The conference will bring together experimentalists and theoreticians at all career stages, from pre- and postdoctoral fellows to assistant and full professors, to present and discuss the latest advances in our understanding of the organization, development, function, and plasticity of thalamocortical networks, and the impact of disease on thalamocortical interactions. A particular strength of the conference will be the cross talk and discussion that will be emphasized and generated between basic-science and clinical researchers studying thalamocortical interactions at different spatial and temporal scales as well as across different sensory, motor and cognitive modalities.