What: About 1,000 people are expected to show up at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society meeting for the latest clues about how the brain perceives and remembers the world. The society's rapid growth since its first meeting last year reflects both new research techniques and renewed interest in determining how the mind is created by the brain, says Michael Gazzaniga, director of the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience, who helped establish the society and coordinate this year's meeting. "Although molecular approaches to neuroscience have provided us with vast insight into neuronal function, no general theory exists as to how the brain works," Gazzaniga says. "The brain mechanisms involved in memory have been studied for more than a century and represent one of the central issues in neuroscience." When: March 26-28 Where: Fairmont Hotel San Francisco, Calif. Highlights: • Lecture by Nobel laureate David Hubel, 5-6 p.m., Sunday, March 26. Hubel and his colleagues have been exploring how the brain handles the information it receives from the eyes, especially the processing of visual cues such as shape, color, movement and depth. • Imagery and the early visual cortex, 8:30-10:30 a.m., Monday, March 27. The debate on when visual mental imagery activates an early visual-processing area has implications for eye-witness testimony. Memory can create visual experiences quite similar to actual experience. • Imaging human cognition using functional magnetic resonance imaging, 2-4 p.m., Monday, March 27. A potentially powerful tool for basic studies, these new methods have surprised researchers with more sensitive and detailed anatomical images of the brain in action than expected. • Plasticity in brain development, 8:30-10:30 a.m., Tuesday, March 28. The lively debate on nature vs. nuture has relevance to such controversies as innate intelligence. Evidence presented at this session likely will support the argument for plasticity: Brains are not made; they're born -- they're shaped and sculpted by experience. • Computational modeling, 2-4 p.m., Tuesday, March 28. Through the loss of obvious and specific abilities, brain-damaged patients have revealed the primary purpose of different parts of the brain. Computer simulation may help scientists better understand some of the more complex and subtle effects of such specific brain damage on other mental activities. Media Credentials: Media may attend for free by signing in at the conference registration desk at the Fairmont, where other materials will also be available.