ANOR Special Volume “Operations Research for Neuroscience II”

After the positive and encouraging response from the scientific and wider community to the special issue Operations Research for Neuroscience, the journal Annals of Operations Research (Springer) now invites submissions of papers to a second special issue on the same subject, called Operations Researchfor Neuroscience II.

Neuroscience, a multidisciplinary science, is concerned with the study of the structure and functions of the nervous system. It comprises aspects of physiology, cellular and molecular biology, as well as behavioral and cognitive science. Recent technological and theoretical advances offer promising opportunities for better understanding of the nervous system at the quantitative level. New optogenetic, in vitro and in vivo multielectrode recording, neuroimaging, brain imaging, and other modern techniques provide high-quality data that can be used in elucidating the fundamental mechanisms of information processing in the nervous system.

The rapidly growing pool of experimental data has triggered the development of new mathematical models that can provide new insights into the functioning of the nervous system at various scales, ranging from that of molecular biology to that of the organizational principles of behavior and cognition. Sophisticated analyses of intracellular signaling or dynamics in heterogeneous neural networks, conditional behavior, or connections of brain regions in decision-making lead to theoretical problems, addressed by operations research.

Although, operations research is actively used in bottom-up approaches–from experimental observation to consistent theory– it also widely overlaps modern and rapidly developing formal theories, for example the free-energy principle, integrated information theory, and may others.

The special issue will cover a broad range of topics in the field of neuroscience using operations research approaches, methods, and theories. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following areas and methodologies of neuroscience:

– intracellular signaling and regulation
– synaptic plasticity
– dynamics in heterogeneous neural networks
– intelligent systems and control
– perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral functions
– learning and memory
– spatio-temporal network analysis
– behavioral economics and finance
– linguistics and cognition
– combinatorial optimization
– signal and information processing
– neuroimaging and functional brain imaging processing
– computational modelling and simulation
– formal theoretical approaches: the free-energy principle, integrated information, Bayesian
inference, etc.

The use of methods from modern operations research in neuroscience is a prerequisite for any paper
submitted to this special issue to enter the reviewing process.

Annals of Operations Research is abstracted and indexed in the following databases: Science Citation
Index, Science Citation Index Expanded (SciSearch), Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, SCOPUS, INSPEC, Zentralblatt Math, Google Scholar, EBSCO, CSA, ProQuest, ABS Academic Journal Quality Guide, Academic OneFile, Academic Search, Computer Abstracts International Database, Computer Science Index, CSA Environmental Sciences, Current Contents/Engineering, Computing and Technology, DBLP, ECONIS, Expanded Academic, International Abstracts in Operations Research, Mathematical Reviews, OCLC, SCImago, STMA-Z, Summon by ProQuest.

Guest Editors: Erik Kropat, Ruben A. Tikidji-Hamburyan, Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber.
Important Dates: Submission deadline of full papers: December 31, 2018.

Submission Details: The format of manuscripts for the Annals of Operations Research as well as
guidelines can be found on the web page of Springer, the publisher of the journal:
http://www.springer.com/journal/10479/submission.

Authors should submit a cover letter mentioning that the paper is for a special volume and a manuscript via the journal’s online submission site: http://www.editorialmanager.com/anor.

When prompted, please select the article type “S.I.: OR in Neuroscience II”.

All papers submitted for publication will be carefully refereed. In case of any question please contact
by e-mail one of the following guest editors:

Dr. Ruben A. Tikidji-Hamburyan
Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy
Health Sciences Center
Louisiana State University
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, USA
E-mail: rtikid@lsuhsc.edu

Dr. Erik Kropat
Department of Computer Science
Universität der Bundeswehr München
Werner-Heisenberg-Weg 39
85577 Neubiberg, Germany
E-mail: erik.kropat@gmx.de

Prof. Dr. Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber
Faculty of Engineering Management
Chair of Marketing and Economic Engineering
Poznan University of Technology
ul. Strzelecka 11
60-965 Poznan, Poland
E-mail: gerhard.weber@put.poznan.pl