+**********************************************************************
*
*
*                          Einladung
*
*
*
*                     Informatik-Oberseminar
*
*
*
+**********************************************************************

Zeit:  08.05.2024 um 09:00
Ort:   Informatikzentrum, Raum 9222 in E3

Referent: Barna Zajzon, M.Sc.
               Lehrstuhl Informatik 3

Thema: Sequential information processing in modular spiking networks

Abstract:

Established paradigms formulate many cognitive processes in terms that involve the manipulation of sequentially organized time-discrete (symbolic) representations. This underscores two basic functional requirements that cortical circuits must fulfill: the ability to create suitable representations from a highly volatile and noisy environment; and the capacity to process, and learn from, their spatio-temporal structure. Combining software tools, simulation studies and theoretical analysis, this thesis entails a series of research projects with the shared goal of disentangling how modular structures enable neural circuits to learn and process sequential information in an efficient and reliable manner. The first part analyses the characteristics of state representations in modular spiking networks and the architectural and dynamical constraints that influence the system's ability to retain, transfer and integrate stimulus information in the presence of noise. It explores the novel hypothesis that modular topographic maps, a pervasive anatomical feature of the cortex, may provide a structural scaffold for sequential denoising of stimulus representations. The second part of this work is dedicated to investigating existing, biologically detailed models of sequence processing. If we are to harvest the knowledge within these models and arrive at a deeper mechanistic understanding of the involved phenomena, it is critical that the models and their findings are accessible, reproducible, and quantitatively comparable. We illustrate these aspects through a replication study and then lay the initial steps towards a conceptual and practical, theoretically-grounded framework for benchmarking and comparison of biophysical sequence learning models.

Es laden ein: die Dozentinnen und Dozenten der Informatik

-- 
Prof. Dr. Abigail Morrison

Institute for Advanced SImulation (IAS-6)
Jülich Research Center

&

Computer Science 3 - Software Engineering
RWTH Aachen

http://www.fz-juelich.de/inm/inm-6
http://www.se-rwth.de

Office:   +49 2428 8097504
Fax # :   +49 2461 61-9460
Pronouns: she/her