2,923 research outputs found
Feedback and surround modulated boundary detection
Altres ajuts: CERCA Programme/Generalitat de CatalunyaEdges are key components of any visual scene to the extent that we can recognise objects merely by their silhouettes. The human visual system captures edge information through neurons in the visual cortex that are sensitive to both intensity discontinuities and particular orientations. The "classical approach" assumes that these cells are only responsive to the stimulus present within their receptive fields, however, recent studies demonstrate that surrounding regions and inter-areal feedback connections influence their responses significantly. In this work we propose a biologically-inspired edge detection model in which orientation selective neurons are represented through the first derivative of a Gaussian function resembling double-opponent cells in the primary visual cortex (V1). In our model we account for four kinds of receptive field surround, i.e. full, far, iso- and orthogonal-orientation, whose contributions are contrast-dependant. The output signal fromV1 is pooled in its perpendicular direction by larger V2 neurons employing a contrast-variant centre-surround kernel. We further introduce a feedback connection from higher-level visual areas to the lower ones. The results of our model on three benchmark datasets show a big improvement compared to the current non-learning and biologically-inspired state-of-the-art algorithms while being competitive to the learning-based methods
Neurocognitive Informatics Manifesto.
Informatics studies all aspects of the structure of natural and artificial information systems. Theoretical and abstract approaches to information have made great advances, but human information processing is still unmatched in many areas, including information management, representation and understanding. Neurocognitive informatics is a new, emerging field that should help to improve the matching of artificial and natural systems, and inspire better computational algorithms to solve problems that are still beyond the reach of machines. In this position paper examples of neurocognitive inspirations and promising directions in this area are given
Event-based Vision: A Survey
Event cameras are bio-inspired sensors that differ from conventional frame
cameras: Instead of capturing images at a fixed rate, they asynchronously
measure per-pixel brightness changes, and output a stream of events that encode
the time, location and sign of the brightness changes. Event cameras offer
attractive properties compared to traditional cameras: high temporal resolution
(in the order of microseconds), very high dynamic range (140 dB vs. 60 dB), low
power consumption, and high pixel bandwidth (on the order of kHz) resulting in
reduced motion blur. Hence, event cameras have a large potential for robotics
and computer vision in challenging scenarios for traditional cameras, such as
low-latency, high speed, and high dynamic range. However, novel methods are
required to process the unconventional output of these sensors in order to
unlock their potential. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the
emerging field of event-based vision, with a focus on the applications and the
algorithms developed to unlock the outstanding properties of event cameras. We
present event cameras from their working principle, the actual sensors that are
available and the tasks that they have been used for, from low-level vision
(feature detection and tracking, optic flow, etc.) to high-level vision
(reconstruction, segmentation, recognition). We also discuss the techniques
developed to process events, including learning-based techniques, as well as
specialized processors for these novel sensors, such as spiking neural
networks. Additionally, we highlight the challenges that remain to be tackled
and the opportunities that lie ahead in the search for a more efficient,
bio-inspired way for machines to perceive and interact with the world
Fast and robust learning by reinforcement signals: explorations in the insect brain
We propose a model for pattern recognition in the insect brain. Departing from a well-known body of knowledge about the insect brain, we investigate which of the potentially present features may be useful to learn input patterns rapidly and in a stable manner. The plasticity underlying pattern recognition is situated in the insect mushroom bodies and requires an error signal to associate the stimulus with a proper response. As a proof of concept, we used our model insect brain to classify the well-known MNIST database of handwritten digits, a popular benchmark for classifiers. We show that the structural organization of the insect brain appears to be suitable for both fast learning of new stimuli and reasonable performance in stationary conditions. Furthermore, it is extremely robust to damage to the brain structures involved in sensory processing. Finally, we suggest that spatiotemporal dynamics can improve the level of confidence in a classification decision. The proposed approach allows testing the effect of hypothesized mechanisms rather than speculating on their benefit for system performance or confidence in its responses
Continual Lifelong Learning with Neural Networks: A Review
Humans and animals have the ability to continually acquire, fine-tune, and
transfer knowledge and skills throughout their lifespan. This ability, referred
to as lifelong learning, is mediated by a rich set of neurocognitive mechanisms
that together contribute to the development and specialization of our
sensorimotor skills as well as to long-term memory consolidation and retrieval.
Consequently, lifelong learning capabilities are crucial for autonomous agents
interacting in the real world and processing continuous streams of information.
However, lifelong learning remains a long-standing challenge for machine
learning and neural network models since the continual acquisition of
incrementally available information from non-stationary data distributions
generally leads to catastrophic forgetting or interference. This limitation
represents a major drawback for state-of-the-art deep neural network models
that typically learn representations from stationary batches of training data,
thus without accounting for situations in which information becomes
incrementally available over time. In this review, we critically summarize the
main challenges linked to lifelong learning for artificial learning systems and
compare existing neural network approaches that alleviate, to different
extents, catastrophic forgetting. We discuss well-established and emerging
research motivated by lifelong learning factors in biological systems such as
structural plasticity, memory replay, curriculum and transfer learning,
intrinsic motivation, and multisensory integration
Generative AI for Controllable Protein Sequence Design: A Survey
The design of novel protein sequences with targeted functionalities underpins
a central theme in protein engineering, impacting diverse fields such as drug
discovery and enzymatic engineering. However, navigating this vast
combinatorial search space remains a severe challenge due to time and financial
constraints. This scenario is rapidly evolving as the transformative
advancements in AI, particularly in the realm of generative models and
optimization algorithms, have been propelling the protein design field towards
an unprecedented revolution. In this survey, we systematically review recent
advances in generative AI for controllable protein sequence design. To set the
stage, we first outline the foundational tasks in protein sequence design in
terms of the constraints involved and present key generative models and
optimization algorithms. We then offer in-depth reviews of each design task and
discuss the pertinent applications. Finally, we identify the unresolved
challenges and highlight research opportunities that merit deeper exploration.Comment: 9 page
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