4,189 research outputs found
Cortical region interactions and the functional role of apical dendrites
The basal and distal apical dendrites of pyramidal cells occupy distinct
cortical layers and are targeted by axons originating in different cortical
regions. Hence, apical and basal dendrites receive information from distinct
sources. Physiological evidence suggests that this anatomically observed
segregation of input sources may have functional significance. This possibility
has been explored in various connectionist models that employ neurons with
functionally distinct apical and basal compartments. A neuron in which separate
sets of inputs can be integrated independently has the potential to operate in a
variety of ways which are not possible for the conventional model of a neuron in
which all inputs are treated equally. This article thus considers how
functionally distinct apical and basal dendrites can contribute to the
information processing capacities of single neurons and, in particular, how
information from different cortical regions could have disparate affects on
neural activity and learning
Reconciling Predictive Coding and Biased Competition Models of Cortical Function
A simple variation of the standard biased competition model is shown, via some trivial mathematical manipulations, to be identical to predictive coding. Specifically, it is shown that a particular implementation of the biased competition model, in which nodes compete via inhibition that targets the inputs to a cortical region, is mathematically equivalent to the linear predictive coding model. This observation demonstrates that these two important and influential rival theories of cortical function are minor variations on the same underlying mathematical model
From biological neural networks to thinking machines: Transitioning biological organizational principles to computer technology
The three-dimensional organization of the vestibular macula is under study by computer assisted reconstruction and simulation methods as a model for more complex neural systems. One goal of this research is to transition knowledge of biological neural network architecture and functioning to computer technology, to contribute to the development of thinking computers. Maculas are organized as weighted neural networks for parallel distributed processing of information. The network is characterized by non-linearity of its terminal/receptive fields. Wiring appears to develop through constrained randomness. A further property is the presence of two main circuits, highly channeled and distributed modifying, that are connected through feedforward-feedback collaterals and biasing subcircuit. Computer simulations demonstrate that differences in geometry of the feedback (afferent) collaterals affects the timing and the magnitude of voltage changes delivered to the spike initiation zone. Feedforward (efferent) collaterals act as voltage followers and likely inhibit neurons of the distributed modifying circuit. These results illustrate the importance of feedforward-feedback loops, of timing, and of inhibition in refining neural network output. They also suggest that it is the distributed modifying network that is most involved in adaptation, memory, and learning. Tests of macular adaptation, through hyper- and microgravitational studies, support this hypothesis since synapses in the distributed modifying circuit, but not the channeled circuit, are altered. Transitioning knowledge of biological systems to computer technology, however, remains problematical
A Tale of Two Animats: What does it take to have goals?
What does it take for a system, biological or not, to have goals? Here, this
question is approached in the context of in silico artificial evolution. By
examining the informational and causal properties of artificial organisms
('animats') controlled by small, adaptive neural networks (Markov Brains), this
essay discusses necessary requirements for intrinsic information, autonomy, and
meaning. The focus lies on comparing two types of Markov Brains that evolved in
the same simple environment: one with purely feedforward connections between
its elements, the other with an integrated set of elements that causally
constrain each other. While both types of brains 'process' information about
their environment and are equally fit, only the integrated one forms a causally
autonomous entity above a background of external influences. This suggests that
to assess whether goals are meaningful for a system itself, it is important to
understand what the system is, rather than what it does.Comment: This article is a contribution to the FQXi 2016-2017 essay contest
"Wandering Towards a Goal
An Intelligent QoS Identification for Untrustworthy Web Services Via Two-phase Neural Networks
QoS identification for untrustworthy Web services is critical in QoS
management in the service computing since the performance of untrustworthy Web
services may result in QoS downgrade. The key issue is to intelligently learn
the characteristics of trustworthy Web services from different QoS levels, then
to identify the untrustworthy ones according to the characteristics of QoS
metrics. As one of the intelligent identification approaches, deep neural
network has emerged as a powerful technique in recent years. In this paper, we
propose a novel two-phase neural network model to identify the untrustworthy
Web services. In the first phase, Web services are collected from the published
QoS dataset. Then, we design a feedforward neural network model to build the
classifier for Web services with different QoS levels. In the second phase, we
employ a probabilistic neural network (PNN) model to identify the untrustworthy
Web services from each classification. The experimental results show the
proposed approach has 90.5% identification ratio far higher than other
competing approaches.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
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