Dr. You-Sheng Shu was invited to attend the International Neural Microcircuitry Conference "Signal Processing Mechanisms of Cortical Neurons" held in Okinawa, Japan on June 24th to 27th and "Microcuitry of Cortex" held in Tokyo, Japan on June 29th to 30th. During the conference, Dr. Shu gave invited talks entitled “State-dependent modulation of cortical inhibition” and “Mechanisms for dynamic balance between cortical excitation and inhibition” respectively.