6,714 research outputs found
Are v1 simple cells optimized for visual occlusions? : A comparative study
Abstract: Simple cells in primary visual cortex were famously found to respond to low-level image components such as edges. Sparse coding and independent component analysis (ICA) emerged as the standard computational models for simple cell coding because they linked their receptive fields to the statistics of visual stimuli. However, a salient feature of image statistics, occlusions of image components, is not considered by these models. Here we ask if occlusions have an effect on the predicted shapes of simple cell receptive fields. We use a comparative approach to answer this question and investigate two models for simple cells: a standard linear model and an occlusive model. For both models we simultaneously estimate optimal receptive fields, sparsity and stimulus noise. The two models are identical except for their component superposition assumption. We find the image encoding and receptive fields predicted by the models to differ significantly. While both models predict many Gabor-like fields, the occlusive model predicts a much sparser encoding and high percentages of ‘globular’ receptive fields. This relatively new center-surround type of simple cell response is observed since reverse correlation is used in experimental studies. While high percentages of ‘globular’ fields can be obtained using specific choices of sparsity and overcompleteness in linear sparse coding, no or only low proportions are reported in the vast majority of studies on linear models (including all ICA models). Likewise, for the here investigated linear model and optimal sparsity, only low proportions of ‘globular’ fields are observed. In comparison, the occlusive model robustly infers high proportions and can match the experimentally observed high proportions of ‘globular’ fields well. Our computational study, therefore, suggests that ‘globular’ fields may be evidence for an optimal encoding of visual occlusions in primary visual cortex.
Author Summary: The statistics of our visual world is dominated by occlusions. Almost every image processed by our brain consists of mutually occluding objects, animals and plants. Our visual cortex is optimized through evolution and throughout our lifespan for such stimuli. Yet, the standard computational models of primary visual processing do not consider occlusions. In this study, we ask what effects visual occlusions may have on predicted response properties of simple cells which are the first cortical processing units for images. Our results suggest that recently observed differences between experiments and predictions of the standard simple cell models can be attributed to occlusions. The most significant consequence of occlusions is the prediction of many cells sensitive to center-surround stimuli. Experimentally, large quantities of such cells are observed since new techniques (reverse correlation) are used. Without occlusions, they are only obtained for specific settings and none of the seminal studies (sparse coding, ICA) predicted such fields. In contrast, the new type of response naturally emerges as soon as occlusions are considered. In comparison with recent in vivo experiments we find that occlusive models are consistent with the high percentages of center-surround simple cells observed in macaque monkeys, ferrets and mice
Nonlinear Hebbian learning as a unifying principle in receptive field formation
The development of sensory receptive fields has been modeled in the past by a
variety of models including normative models such as sparse coding or
independent component analysis and bottom-up models such as spike-timing
dependent plasticity or the Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro model of synaptic
plasticity. Here we show that the above variety of approaches can all be
unified into a single common principle, namely Nonlinear Hebbian Learning. When
Nonlinear Hebbian Learning is applied to natural images, receptive field shapes
were strongly constrained by the input statistics and preprocessing, but
exhibited only modest variation across different choices of nonlinearities in
neuron models or synaptic plasticity rules. Neither overcompleteness nor sparse
network activity are necessary for the development of localized receptive
fields. The analysis of alternative sensory modalities such as auditory models
or V2 development lead to the same conclusions. In all examples, receptive
fields can be predicted a priori by reformulating an abstract model as
nonlinear Hebbian learning. Thus nonlinear Hebbian learning and natural
statistics can account for many aspects of receptive field formation across
models and sensory modalities
Efficient coding of spectrotemporal binaural sounds leads to emergence of the auditory space representation
To date a number of studies have shown that receptive field shapes of early
sensory neurons can be reproduced by optimizing coding efficiency of natural
stimulus ensembles. A still unresolved question is whether the efficient coding
hypothesis explains formation of neurons which explicitly represent
environmental features of different functional importance. This paper proposes
that the spatial selectivity of higher auditory neurons emerges as a direct
consequence of learning efficient codes for natural binaural sounds. Firstly,
it is demonstrated that a linear efficient coding transform - Independent
Component Analysis (ICA) trained on spectrograms of naturalistic simulated
binaural sounds extracts spatial information present in the signal. A simple
hierarchical ICA extension allowing for decoding of sound position is proposed.
Furthermore, it is shown that units revealing spatial selectivity can be
learned from a binaural recording of a natural auditory scene. In both cases a
relatively small subpopulation of learned spectrogram features suffices to
perform accurate sound localization. Representation of the auditory space is
therefore learned in a purely unsupervised way by maximizing the coding
efficiency and without any task-specific constraints. This results imply that
efficient coding is a useful strategy for learning structures which allow for
making behaviorally vital inferences about the environment.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure
Role of homeostasis in learning sparse representations
Neurons in the input layer of primary visual cortex in primates develop
edge-like receptive fields. One approach to understanding the emergence of this
response is to state that neural activity has to efficiently represent sensory
data with respect to the statistics of natural scenes. Furthermore, it is
believed that such an efficient coding is achieved using a competition across
neurons so as to generate a sparse representation, that is, where a relatively
small number of neurons are simultaneously active. Indeed, different models of
sparse coding, coupled with Hebbian learning and homeostasis, have been
proposed that successfully match the observed emergent response. However, the
specific role of homeostasis in learning such sparse representations is still
largely unknown. By quantitatively assessing the efficiency of the neural
representation during learning, we derive a cooperative homeostasis mechanism
that optimally tunes the competition between neurons within the sparse coding
algorithm. We apply this homeostasis while learning small patches taken from
natural images and compare its efficiency with state-of-the-art algorithms.
Results show that while different sparse coding algorithms give similar coding
results, the homeostasis provides an optimal balance for the representation of
natural images within the population of neurons. Competition in sparse coding
is optimized when it is fair. By contributing to optimizing statistical
competition across neurons, homeostasis is crucial in providing a more
efficient solution to the emergence of independent components
Sparse visual models for biologically inspired sensorimotor control
Given the importance of using resources efficiently in the competition for survival, it is reasonable to think that natural evolution has discovered efficient cortical coding strategies for representing natural visual information. Sparse representations have intrinsic advantages in terms of fault-tolerance and low-power consumption potential, and can therefore be attractive for robot sensorimotor control with powerful dispositions for decision-making. Inspired by the mammalian brain and its visual ventral pathway, we present in this paper a hierarchical sparse coding network architecture that extracts visual features for use in sensorimotor control. Testing with natural images demonstrates that this sparse coding facilitates processing and learning in subsequent layers. Previous studies have shown how the responses of complex cells could be sparsely represented by a higher-order neural layer. Here we extend sparse coding in each network layer, showing that detailed modeling of earlier stages in the visual pathway enhances the characteristics of the receptive fields developed in subsequent stages. The yield network is more dynamic with richer and more biologically plausible input and output representation
Non-negative sparse coding
Non-negative sparse coding is a method for decomposing multivariate data into
non-negative sparse components. In this paper we briefly describe the
motivation behind this type of data representation and its relation to standard
sparse coding and non-negative matrix factorization. We then give a simple yet
efficient multiplicative algorithm for finding the optimal values of the hidden
components. In addition, we show how the basis vectors can be learned from the
observed data. Simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed
method
Sparse Coding Predicts Optic Flow Specificities of Zebrafish Pretectal Neurons
Zebrafish pretectal neurons exhibit specificities for large-field optic flow
patterns associated with rotatory or translatory body motion. We investigate
the hypothesis that these specificities reflect the input statistics of natural
optic flow. Realistic motion sequences were generated using computer graphics
simulating self-motion in an underwater scene. Local retinal motion was
estimated with a motion detector and encoded in four populations of
directionally tuned retinal ganglion cells, represented as two signed input
variables. This activity was then used as input into one of two learning
networks: a sparse coding network (competitive learning) and backpropagation
network (supervised learning). Both simulations develop specificities for optic
flow which are comparable to those found in a neurophysiological study (Kubo et
al. 2014), and relative frequencies of the various neuronal responses are best
modeled by the sparse coding approach. We conclude that the optic flow neurons
in the zebrafish pretectum do reflect the optic flow statistics. The predicted
vectorial receptive fields show typical optic flow fields but also "Gabor" and
dipole-shaped patterns that likely reflect difference fields needed for
reconstruction by linear superposition.Comment: Published Conference Paper from ICANN 2018, Rhode
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