SECOND CALL FOR THE LEARNING AND PLASTICITY MEETING, APRIL 5-8 2020, ÄKÄSLOMPOLO, FINNISH LAPLAND

REGISTRATION AND ABSTRACT SUBMISSION NOW OPEN AT THE MEETING WEBSITE (DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS JANUARY 15, 2020):  http://lapmeeting.fi/

Dear colleague,

We are happy to inform that the abstract submission and registration to the 6th Learning and Plasticity Meeting is now open! We have confirmed five exciting symposia (see below) besides the keynote lecture by Professor Simone Kühn at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany (see http://simonekuehn.com/). The title of her keynote is ”Brain structural and functional effects of video gaming”.

LaP is a small, highly interactive cross-disciplinary meeting that connects psychological and neuroscience research on the mechanisms of learning and brain plasticity. It is organized by the Åbo Akademi University, the University of Turku, the Turku Brain and Mind Center, and the CICERO Learning Network. The congress venue is the same as for the previous meetings, namely Äkäshotel at the Äkäslompolo village.

The special theme of the 2020 meeting is “Videogaming and Cognitive Enhancement”. However, as before, the program will also include free papers presented as posters, reflecting the broad spectrum of learning and plasticity research.

The five confirmed symposia at LaP2020 are as follows:

Uncovering underlying cognitive and neural mechanisms and individual differences to maximize cognitive training outcome using game-like approaches. Organized by Susanne Jaeggi. Speakers: Anna Stigsdotter Neely, Juan Ramos-Cejudo, Anja Pahor, Tilo Strobach.

Reading difficulties and audio-visual learning: neural bases and intervention effects. Organized by Paavo Leppänen & Teija Kujala. Speakers: Teija Kujala, Paavo Leppänen, Jarmo Hämäläinen, Yi-Fang Hsu.

Human goal-directed cognition and its malleability: fundamental questions. Organized by Juha Salmi. Speakers: Neil Burgess, Robert Logie, Matias Palva, Juha Salmi.

Gaming in language learning. Organized by Sari Ylinen & Maria Uther. Speakers: Katja Junttila, Maria Uther, Sari Ylinen.

Child media use and child development and wellbeing in the context of early life stress. Organized by Hasse and Linnea Karlsson. Speakers: Jani Kajanoja, Elisabeth Nordenswan, Riikka Korja.

Despite of its northern location way above the Polar Circle, the congress site is easy to reach from Helsinki by night train to Kolari or by flight to the nearby airport at Kittilä. The congress program runs from afternoon to evening, enabling one to utilize the excellent possibilities for various winter sports and other outdoor activities during the long days in early April. Due to auditorium space and to keep the meeting highly interactive, the number of participants is limited to 60. It is important to make travel arrangements early on as the night trains and flights tend to become fully booked due to the number of tourists coming to enjoy the unique Lappish Spring.

Hope to see you at the Heart of Finnish Lapland in Spring 2020!

The LaP Scientific Committee,

Matti Laine, Abo Akademi University, Finland (Chair); Lars Bäckman, Karolinska Institute, Sweden; Susanne Jaeggi, University of California at Irvine, USA; Hasse Karlsson, University of Turku, Finland; Minna Lehtonen, University of Oslo, Norway; Marcus Meinzer, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany; Lars Nyberg, Umeå University, Sweden; Juha Salmi, Aalto University, Finland