27,602 research outputs found
Sequence learning in Associative Neuronal-Astrocytic Network
The neuronal paradigm of studying the brain has left us with limitations in
both our understanding of how neurons process information to achieve biological
intelligence and how such knowledge may be translated into artificial
intelligence and its most brain-derived branch, neuromorphic computing.
Overturning our fundamental assumptions of how the brain works, the recent
exploration of astrocytes is revealing that these long-neglected brain cells
dynamically regulate learning by interacting with neuronal activity at the
synaptic level. Following recent experimental evidence, we designed an
associative, Hopfield-type, neuronal-astrocytic network and analyzed the
dynamics of the interaction between neurons and astrocytes. We show that
astrocytes were sufficient to trigger transitions between learned memories in
the neuronal component of the network. Further, we mathematically derived the
timing of the transitions that was governed by the dynamics of the
calcium-dependent slow-currents in the astrocytic processes. Overall, we
provide a brain-morphic mechanism for sequence learning that is inspired by,
and aligns with, recent experimental findings. To evaluate our model, we
emulated astrocytic atrophy and showed that memory recall becomes significantly
impaired after a critical point of affected astrocytes was reached. This
brain-inspired and brain-validated approach supports our ongoing efforts to
incorporate non-neuronal computing elements in neuromorphic information
processing.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Electroencephalographic field influence on calcium momentum waves
Macroscopic EEG fields can be an explicit top-down neocortical mechanism that
directly drives bottom-up processes that describe memory, attention, and other
neuronal processes. The top-down mechanism considered are macrocolumnar EEG
firings in neocortex, as described by a statistical mechanics of neocortical
interactions (SMNI), developed as a magnetic vector potential . The
bottom-up process considered are waves prominent in synaptic
and extracellular processes that are considered to greatly influence neuronal
firings. Here, the complimentary effects are considered, i.e., the influence of
on momentum, . The canonical
momentum of a charged particle in an electromagnetic field, (SI units), is calculated, where the charge of
is , is the magnitude of the charge of an
electron. Calculations demonstrate that macroscopic EEG can be
quite influential on the momentum of ions, in
both classical and quantum mechanics. Molecular scales of
wave dynamics are coupled with fields developed at macroscopic
regional scales measured by coherent neuronal firing activity measured by scalp
EEG. The project has three main aspects: fitting models to EEG
data as reported here, building tripartite models to develop
models, and studying long coherence times of waves in the
presence of due to coherent neuronal firings measured by scalp
EEG. The SMNI model supports a mechanism wherein the interaction at tripartite synapses, via a dynamic centering
mechanism (DCM) to control background synaptic activity, acts to maintain
short-term memory (STM) during states of selective attention.Comment: Final draft. http://ingber.com/smni14_eeg_ca.pdf may be updated more
frequentl
Consciousness as Recursive, Spatiotemporal Self-Location
At the phenomenal level, consciousness arises in a consistently coherent fashion as a singular, unified field of recursive self-awareness (subjectivity) with explicitly orientational characteristicsâthat of a subject located both spatially and temporally in an egocentrically-extended domain. Understanding these twin elements of consciousness begins with the recognition that ultimately (and most primitively), cognitive systems serve the biological self-regulatory regime in which they subsist. The psychological structures supporting self-located subjectivity involve an evolutionary elaboration of the two basic elements necessary for extending self-regulation into behavioral interaction with the environment: an orientative reference frame which consistently structures ongoing interaction in terms of controllable spatiotemporal parameters, and processing architecture that relates behavior to homeostatic needs via feedback. Over time, constant evolutionary pressures for energy efficiency have encouraged the emergence of anticipative feedforward processing mechanisms, and the elaboration, at the apex of the sensorimotor processing hierarchy, of self-activating, highly attenuated recursively-feedforward circuitry processing the basic orientational schema independent of external action output. As the primary reference frame of active waking cognition, this recursive self-locational schema processing generates a zone of subjective self-awareness in terms of which it feels like something to be oneself here and now. This is consciousness-as-subjectivity
Indian Physics: Outline of Early History
Historians of science are generally unaware of the contributions of India to
physics. The main reason for this is that very little research has been done on
the subject in the recent past, a consequence of the fact that there are few
history of science departments in Indian universities. The objective of this
paper is to present a preliminary outline of early history of physics in India.
The schools of Vaisheshika and Samkhya, that were interested in general
principles of atomic theory and cosmology, are discussed. In particular, ideas
on atoms and molecules, the nature of sound, causality, universals, cosmology,
uniform and non-uniform motions are described.Comment: 36 page
A quantum causal discovery algorithm
Finding a causal model for a set of classical variables is now a
well-established task---but what about the quantum equivalent? Even the notion
of a quantum causal model is controversial. Here, we present a causal discovery
algorithm for quantum systems. The input to the algorithm is a process matrix
describing correlations between quantum events. Its output consists of
different levels of information about the underlying causal model. Our
algorithm determines whether the process is causally ordered by grouping the
events into causally-ordered non-signaling sets. It detects if all relevant
common causes are included in the process, which we label Markovian, or
alternatively if some causal relations are mediated through some external
memory. For a Markovian process, it outputs a causal model, namely the causal
relations and the corresponding mechanisms, represented as quantum states and
channels. Our algorithm provides a first step towards more general methods for
quantum causal discovery.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, revised to match published versio
Graphical Structures for Design and Verification of Quantum Error Correction
We introduce a high-level graphical framework for designing and analysing
quantum error correcting codes, centred on what we term the coherent parity
check (CPC). The graphical formulation is based on the diagrammatic tools of
the zx-calculus of quantum observables. The resulting framework leads to a
construction for stabilizer codes that allows us to design and verify a broad
range of quantum codes based on classical ones, and that gives a means of
discovering large classes of codes using both analytical and numerical methods.
We focus in particular on the smaller codes that will be the first used by
near-term devices. We show how CSS codes form a subset of CPC codes and, more
generally, how to compute stabilizers for a CPC code. As an explicit example of
this framework, we give a method for turning almost any pair of classical
[n,k,3] codes into a [[2n - k + 2, k, 3]] CPC code. Further, we give a simple
technique for machine search which yields thousands of potential codes, and
demonstrate its operation for distance 3 and 5 codes. Finally, we use the
graphical tools to demonstrate how Clifford computation can be performed within
CPC codes. As our framework gives a new tool for constructing small- to
medium-sized codes with relatively high code rates, it provides a new source
for codes that could be suitable for emerging devices, while its zx-calculus
foundations enable natural integration of error correction with graphical
compiler toolchains. It also provides a powerful framework for reasoning about
all stabilizer quantum error correction codes of any size.Comment: Computer code associated with this paper may be found at
https://doi.org/10.15128/r1bn999672
The role of environmental correlations in the non-Markovian dynamics of a spin system
We put forward a framework to study the dynamics of a chain of interacting
quantum particles affected by individual or collective multi-mode environment,
focussing on the role played by the environmental quantum correlations over the
evolution of the chain. The presence of entanglement in the state of the
environmental system magnifies the non-Markovian nature of the chain's
dynamics, giving rise to structures in figures of merit such as entanglement
and purity that are not observed under a separable multi-mode environment. Our
analysis can be relevant to problems tackling the open-system dynamics of
biological complexes of strong current interest.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figure
Mammalian Brain As a Network of Networks
Acknowledgements AZ, SG and AL acknowledge support from the Russian Science Foundation (16-12-00077). Authors thank T. Kuznetsova for Fig. 6.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Working Through The Past: Labor and Authoritorian Legacies in Comparative Perspective
[Excerpt] Democratization in the developing and post-communist world has yielded limited gains for labor. Explanations for this phenomenon have focused on the effect of economic crisis and globalization on the capacities of unions to become influential political actors and to secure policies that benefit their members. In contrast, the contributors to Working through the Past highlight the critical role that authoritarian legacies play in shaping labor politics in new democracies, providing the first cross-regional analysis of the impact of authoritarianism on labor, focusing on East and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.
Legacies from the predemocratic era shape laborâs present in ways that both limit and enhance organized laborâs power in new democracies. Assessing the comparative impact on a variety of outcomes relevant to labor in widely divergent settings, this volume argues that political legacies provide new insights into why labor movements in some countries have confronted the challenges of neoliberal globalization better than others
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