3,214 research outputs found
Real time unsupervised learning of visual stimuli in neuromorphic VLSI systems
Neuromorphic chips embody computational principles operating in the nervous
system, into microelectronic devices. In this domain it is important to
identify computational primitives that theory and experiments suggest as
generic and reusable cognitive elements. One such element is provided by
attractor dynamics in recurrent networks. Point attractors are equilibrium
states of the dynamics (up to fluctuations), determined by the synaptic
structure of the network; a `basin' of attraction comprises all initial states
leading to a given attractor upon relaxation, hence making attractor dynamics
suitable to implement robust associative memory. The initial network state is
dictated by the stimulus, and relaxation to the attractor state implements the
retrieval of the corresponding memorized prototypical pattern. In a previous
work we demonstrated that a neuromorphic recurrent network of spiking neurons
and suitably chosen, fixed synapses supports attractor dynamics. Here we focus
on learning: activating on-chip synaptic plasticity and using a theory-driven
strategy for choosing network parameters, we show that autonomous learning,
following repeated presentation of simple visual stimuli, shapes a synaptic
connectivity supporting stimulus-selective attractors. Associative memory
develops on chip as the result of the coupled stimulus-driven neural activity
and ensuing synaptic dynamics, with no artificial separation between learning
and retrieval phases.Comment: submitted to Scientific Repor
Intrinsically-generated fluctuating activity in excitatory-inhibitory networks
Recurrent networks of non-linear units display a variety of dynamical regimes
depending on the structure of their synaptic connectivity. A particularly
remarkable phenomenon is the appearance of strongly fluctuating, chaotic
activity in networks of deterministic, but randomly connected rate units. How
this type of intrinsi- cally generated fluctuations appears in more realistic
networks of spiking neurons has been a long standing question. To ease the
comparison between rate and spiking networks, recent works investigated the
dynami- cal regimes of randomly-connected rate networks with segregated
excitatory and inhibitory populations, and firing rates constrained to be
positive. These works derived general dynamical mean field (DMF) equations
describing the fluctuating dynamics, but solved these equations only in the
case of purely inhibitory networks. Using a simplified excitatory-inhibitory
architecture in which DMF equations are more easily tractable, here we show
that the presence of excitation qualitatively modifies the fluctuating activity
compared to purely inhibitory networks. In presence of excitation,
intrinsically generated fluctuations induce a strong increase in mean firing
rates, a phenomenon that is much weaker in purely inhibitory networks.
Excitation moreover induces two different fluctuating regimes: for moderate
overall coupling, recurrent inhibition is sufficient to stabilize fluctuations,
for strong coupling, firing rates are stabilized solely by the upper bound
imposed on activity, even if inhibition is stronger than excitation. These
results extend to more general network architectures, and to rate networks
receiving noisy inputs mimicking spiking activity. Finally, we show that
signatures of the second dynamical regime appear in networks of
integrate-and-fire neurons
Feedback-dependent control of stochastic synchronization in coupled neural systems
We investigate the synchronization dynamics of two coupled noise-driven
FitzHugh-Nagumo systems, representing two neural populations. For certain
choices of the noise intensities and coupling strength, we find cooperative
stochastic dynamics such as frequency synchronization and phase
synchronization, where the degree of synchronization can be quantified by the
ratio of the interspike interval of the two excitable neural populations and
the phase synchronization index, respectively. The stochastic synchronization
can be either enhanced or suppressed by local time-delayed feedback control,
depending upon the delay time and the coupling strength. The control depends
crucially upon the coupling scheme of the control force, i.e., whether the
control force is generated from the activator or inhibitor signal, and applied
to either component. For inhibitor self-coupling, synchronization is most
strongly enhanced, whereas for activator self-coupling there exist distinct
values of the delay time where the synchronization is strongly suppressed even
in the strong synchronization regime. For cross-coupling strongly modulated
behavior is found
Time-delayed feedback in neurosystems
The influence of time delay in systems of two coupled excitable neurons is
studied in the framework of the FitzHugh-Nagumo model. Time-delay can occur in
the coupling between neurons or in a self-feedback loop. The stochastic
synchronization of instantaneously coupled neurons under the influence of white
noise can be deliberately controlled by local time-delayed feedback. By
appropriate choice of the delay time synchronization can be either enhanced or
suppressed. In delay-coupled neurons, antiphase oscillations can be induced for
sufficiently large delay and coupling strength. The additional application of
time-delayed self-feedback leads to complex scenarios of synchronized in-phase
or antiphase oscillations, bursting patterns, or amplitude death.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figure
Synchronization of coupled neural oscillators with heterogeneous delays
We investigate the effects of heterogeneous delays in the coupling of two
excitable neural systems. Depending upon the coupling strengths and the time
delays in the mutual and self-coupling, the compound system exhibits different
types of synchronized oscillations of variable period. We analyze this
synchronization based on the interplay of the different time delays and support
the numerical results by analytical findings. In addition, we elaborate on
bursting-like dynamics with two competing timescales on the basis of the
autocorrelation function.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figure
A comparative study of different integrate-and-fire neurons: spontaneous activity, dynamical response, and stimulus-induced correlation
Stochastic integrate-and-fire (IF) neuron models have found widespread
applications in computational neuroscience. Here we present results on the
white-noise-driven perfect, leaky, and quadratic IF models, focusing on the
spectral statistics (power spectra, cross spectra, and coherence functions) in
different dynamical regimes (noise-induced and tonic firing regimes with low or
moderate noise). We make the models comparable by tuning parameters such that
the mean value and the coefficient of variation of the interspike interval
match for all of them. We find that, under these conditions, the power spectrum
under white-noise stimulation is often very similar while the response
characteristics, described by the cross spectrum between a fraction of the
input noise and the output spike train, can differ drastically. We also
investigate how the spike trains of two neurons of the same kind (e.g. two
leaky IF neurons) correlate if they share a common noise input. We show that,
depending on the dynamical regime, either two quadratic IF models or two leaky
IFs are more strongly correlated. Our results suggest that, when choosing among
simple IF models for network simulations, the details of the model have a
strong effect on correlation and regularity of the output.Comment: 12 page
Autonomous Bursting in a Homoclinic System
A continuous train of irregularly spaced spikes, peculiar of homoclinic
chaos, transforms into clusters of regularly spaced spikes, with quiescent
periods in between (bursting regime), by feeding back a low frequency portion
of the dynamical output. Such autonomous bursting results to be extremely
robust against noise; we provide experimental evidence of it in a CO2 laser
with feedback. The phenomen here presented display qualitative analogies with
bursting phenomena in neurons.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett., 14 pages, 5 figure
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