The Second International Whole Brain Architecture Workshop

News from WBAI
2024.09.17
February 24, 2025, Hybrid

Welcome

Welcome to the 2nd International Whole Brain Architecture Workshop, held by hybrid on February 24, 2025!

Building brain-inspired artificial intelligence is a promising approach to engineering human-like problem-solving abilities. To achieve this, it is essential to understand and mimic the computational functions of the brain. This endeavor requires knowledge from various fields, including neuroscience and cognitive science.

This workshop is the second in a workshop series to promote the disclosure, sharing, and integration of information on BRA data (Note. 1) and data papers in standardized data formats. Through expert discussions on the data, the workshop is expected to contribute to the development of this field by clarifying the academic value of the data and deepening the understanding of the applicability of BRA data by gathering researchers from various fields. We look forward to your active submission of BRA data and data papers and your participation in the workshop.

Note 1. Brain Reference Architecture (BRA) is the design information for brain-shaped software, and consists of Brain Information Flow (BIF), which is the brain’s mesoscopic-level anatomical structure for human cognitive behavior, Hypothetical Component Diagram (HCD), which is a description of computational functions consistent with BIF, and Function Realization Graph (FRG), which expresses the hierarchical relationship of functions based on each component of HCD. BRA data refers to data representing BRA. Template file of BRA data are also available.

Call for Data and Papers

Aim and Scope

For reproducing the remarkable problem-solving abilities of humans, constructing brain-inspired artificial intelligence, in which we understand and simulate the computational functions of the brain, is a promising approach. This approach requires knowledge from a wide range of research fields, including neuro- and cognitive sciences. To design brain-inspired AI, it is vital to accumulate and share standardized design information as open knowledge, given the amount of knowledge is vast. Therefore, we will hold the second international workshop for cooperation and sharing of standardized design information (BRA data) for developing brain-inspired artificial intelligence. Another purpose of this workshop is to clarify the academic value of the submitted data sets through the sharing and expert discussion of the data and supplementary papers.

We call for BRA data and paper submission for this workshop. Submitted data and paper were reviewed and accepted data will be published on a portal site called BRA Editorial System (BRAES). The papers shall be registered at a preprint server and their DOIs will be submitted to BRAES. The DOIs will be shared on the program page of the workshop. We hope that the sharing and integration of brain-inspired AI design information will contribute to the development of this field. We look forward to your submission of BRA data and papers.

Submission

We are calling for submissions of BRA data for this workshop and data papers that explain registered BRA data (applications start on October 20, 2024). Submitted BRA data and data papers will be peer-reviewed, and those that are accepted will be asked to give a presentation on the day of the workshop.

Before submitting BRA data, you are required to submit an abstract of your data paper in advance. After submitting the abstract of your data paper, you will need to submit the BRA data and data paper. The data paper is a paper that explains the contents of the BRA data. The data paper shuold be registered it on the preprint server (Jrxiv) before it is submitted along with the DOI on the submission site for this workshop. The DOI and the data paper will be published on the workshop program page (this page).

The BRA data and data papers will be peer-reviewed, and those that are accepted will be asked to give a presentation on the contents of the data on the day of the international symposium. Note: If you submit BRA data and paper, you may be in charge of review.

Data Submission

Data include BRA data and Graphic data (BIF Image/HCD Image/FRG Image).

Paper DOI and Paper Submission

When your BRA data will be accepted, you are required to submit a paper DOI and paper. The paper should be written in accordance with the following guidelines.

  • The following template (TeX) should be used:
    • Template for International Whole Brain Architecture Workshop (TBA)
  • No page limit
  • It should be written in English.
  • It should be submitted to Jxiv.
    • The DOI published on Jxiv is required at the time of paper DOI submission.
      • Note: it takes time to publish on Jxiv so submission to Jxiv should be done as early as possible.
    • To post to Jxiv, you need to register with researchmap or ORCID. Please check the Jxiv terms, guidelines, and manual in advance.
  • We provide the platform BRAES (BRA Editorial System) for data submission, data review and sharing the accepted data and paper. Please submit your data and paper
    • TBA

*Submission review site:  BRA Editorial System  (BRAES)   [WBA Wiki]

Important Dates

  • BRA Data submission start: 20th October 2024 (JST)
  • Paper abstract submission deadline: 1st November 2024 (JST)
  • BRA Data submission deadline: 20th December 2024 (JST)
  • Paper submission deadline: 4th January 2025 (JST)
  • Completed BRA Data submission deadline: 4th January 2025 (JST)
  • Paper notification: 24th January 2025 (JST)

Date and location

  • Date:
    • 24th Feburary 2025 (Mon.)
  • Location (Hybrid):
    • Tokyo (TBA)
    • Note:  Participation on site is limited.

Program

TBD

Chairs & Committees

General Co-Chairs

  • Program Chair: Yoshimasa Tawatsuji (The University of Tokyo, The Whole Brain Architecture Initiative)
  • Executive Chair: Hiroshi Yamakawa (The Whole Brain Architecture Initiative)

Member

  • Yuta Ashihara (Nihon University)
  • Naoya Arakawa (The Whole Brain Architecture Initiative)
  • Yoshiko Honda (Tokyo Women’s Medical University)
  • Tatsuya Miyamoto (Waseda University)
  • Nayuta Mizuguchi (The University of Tokyo)
  • Ken Nakae (National Institutes of Natural Sciences)
  • Atsushi Nakashima (Ritsumeikan University)
  • Yudai Suzuki (The Univeristy of Tokyo)
  • Yasuhiro Tanaka (Tamagawa University)
  • Akira Taniguchi (Ritsumeikan University)
  • Naohiro Yamauchi (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University)
  • Halwa Zakia (Kyoto University)

Advisors

  • Shin-ichi Asakawa (Tokyo Woman’s Christian University)
  • Haruhiko Bito (The University of Tokyo)
  • Kenji Doya (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University)
  • Ryutaro Ichise (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
  • Masanori Matsuzaki (The University of Tokyo)
  • Takashi Omori (Tamagawa University)
  • Koichi Takahashi (RIKEN)

Attendees (Free Admission)

On-site

TBD

Online

  1.  Please apply using the form below.
    Registration form link: (TBA)
  2. On the day before and the day of the event, you will receive a notification with the registration information (URL) for the Zoom meeting.
  3. Once you have completed your registration, you will receive an email from the host, WBAI (noreply@zoom.us), containing the Zoom link for accessing the workshop on the event day.
  4. If this is your first time participating in a Zoom meeting, please install the desktop application on your device in advance. You can also join from a web browser without using the desktop application.
  5. When the workshop is about to start, please click on the participation URL sent to you after registration and access Zoom.

*Submitters are automatically registered for participation.

Peer review criteria

The peer review of data papers is conducted based on the following criteria.

  1. Comprehensibility: The content of the paper is clearly and concisely written, making it easy for readers to understand.
  2. Reproducibility: The methods for data collection, processing, and analysis are described in detail, allowing other researchers to reproduce the same results.
  3. Transparency: The process of constructing the dataset and the tools and techniques used are thoroughly explained, making the entire research process clear.

Contacts

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or troubles.
BRA support team: bra-support@wba-initiative.org