1,011 research outputs found
Computational techniques to interpret the neural code underlying complex cognitive processes
Advances in large-scale neural recording technology have significantly improved the
capacity to further elucidate the neural code underlying complex cognitive processes.
This thesis aimed to investigate two research questions in rodent models. First, what
is the role of the hippocampus in memory and specifically what is the underlying
neural code that contributes to spatial memory and navigational decision-making.
Second, how is social cognition represented in the medial prefrontal cortex at the
level of individual neurons. To start, the thesis begins by investigating memory and
social cognition in the context of healthy and diseased states that use non-invasive
methods (i.e. fMRI and animal behavioural studies). The main body of the thesis
then shifts to developing our fundamental understanding of the neural mechanisms
underpinning these cognitive processes by applying computational techniques to ana lyse stable large-scale neural recordings. To achieve this, tailored calcium imaging
and behaviour preprocessing computational pipelines were developed and optimised
for use in social interaction and spatial navigation experimental analysis. In parallel,
a review was conducted on methods for multivariate/neural population analysis. A
comparison of multiple neural manifold learning (NML) algorithms identified that non linear algorithms such as UMAP are more adaptable across datasets of varying noise
and behavioural complexity. Furthermore, the review visualises how NML can be
applied to disease states in the brain and introduces the secondary analyses that
can be used to enhance or characterise a neural manifold. Lastly, the preprocessing
and analytical pipelines were combined to investigate the neural mechanisms in volved in social cognition and spatial memory. The social cognition study explored
how neural firing in the medial Prefrontal cortex changed as a function of the social
dominance paradigm, the "Tube Test". The univariate analysis identified an ensemble
of behavioural-tuned neurons that fire preferentially during specific behaviours such
as "pushing" or "retreating" for the animal’s own behaviour and/or the competitor’s
behaviour. Furthermore, in dominant animals, the neural population exhibited greater
average firing than that of subordinate animals. Next, to investigate spatial memory,
a spatial recency task was used, where rats learnt to navigate towards one of three
reward locations and then recall the rewarded location of the session. During the
task, over 1000 neurons were recorded from the hippocampal CA1 region for five rats
over multiple sessions. Multivariate analysis revealed that the sequence of neurons encoding an animal’s spatial position leading up to a rewarded location was also active
in the decision period before the animal navigates to the rewarded location. The result
posits that prospective replay of neural sequences in the hippocampal CA1 region
could provide a mechanism by which decision-making is supported
LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volume
LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volum
From Human Behavior to Machine Behavior
A core pursuit of artificial intelligence is the comprehension of human behavior. Imbuing intelligent agents with a good human behavior model can help them understand how to behave intelligently and interactively in complex situations. Due to the increase in data availability and computational resources, the development of machine learning algorithms for duplicating human cognitive abilities has made rapid progress. To solve difficult scenarios, learning-based methods must search for solutions in a predefined but large space. Along with implementing a smart exploration strategy, the right representation for a task can help narrow the search process during learning. This dissertation tackles three important aspects of machine intelligence: 1) prediction, 2) exploration, and 3) representation. More specifically we develop new algorithms for 1) predicting the future maneuvers or outcomes in pilot training and computer architecture applications; 2) exploration strategies for reinforcement learning in game environments and 3) scene representations for autonomous driving agents capable of handling large numbers of dynamic entities. This dissertation makes the following research contributions in the area of representation learning. First, we introduce a new time series representation for flight trajectories in intelligent pilot training simulations. Second, we demonstrate a method, Temporally Aware Embedding (TAE) for learning an embedding that leverages temporal information extracted from data retrieval series. Third, the dissertation introduces GRAD (Graph Representation for Autonomous Driving) that incorporates the future location of neighboring vehicles into the decision-making process. We demonstrate the usage of our models for pilot training, cache usage prediction, and autonomous driving; however, believe that our new time series representations can be applied to many other types of modeling problems
A review of technical factors to consider when designing neural networks for semantic segmentation of Earth Observation imagery
Semantic segmentation (classification) of Earth Observation imagery is a
crucial task in remote sensing. This paper presents a comprehensive review of
technical factors to consider when designing neural networks for this purpose.
The review focuses on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), Recurrent Neural
Networks (RNNs), Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), and transformer
models, discussing prominent design patterns for these ANN families and their
implications for semantic segmentation. Common pre-processing techniques for
ensuring optimal data preparation are also covered. These include methods for
image normalization and chipping, as well as strategies for addressing data
imbalance in training samples, and techniques for overcoming limited data,
including augmentation techniques, transfer learning, and domain adaptation. By
encompassing both the technical aspects of neural network design and the
data-related considerations, this review provides researchers and practitioners
with a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of the factors involved in
designing effective neural networks for semantic segmentation of Earth
Observation imagery.Comment: 145 pages with 32 figure
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Taking shape: The data science of elastic shape analysis with practical applications
This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London.A mathematical curve can represent many different objects, both physical and abstract,
from the outline curve of an artefact in an image to the weight of growing animal to
the set of frequencies used in a sound. Regardless of these variations, the curves can
almost always vary non-linearly. One way to study shapes and their potential variations
is elastic shape analysis, a rich theory of which has developed over the past twenty years.
However, methods of elastic shape analysis are seldom utilized in practical applications
on real-world data, especially outside of the mathematical shape analysis community.
Our aim in this thesis is to explore some practical applications of elastic shape analysis.
To do this, we work with various types of shape data, the majority of which are based on
image datasets. As our focus is on two-dimensional curves, it is important to be able to
robustly extract contours from images, before we can apply elastic shape analysis tools.
In order to analyse the shapes in a dataset, we turn to methods of machine learning, to
investigate the applications of elastic shape analysis in classification.
In this thesis, we introduce an anthology of projects, in order to emphasise and under-
stand the potential of elastic shape analysis in practical applications. There are four main
projects in this thesis: (i) Classification of objects using outlines and the comparisons
between methods of elastic shape analysis, geometric morphometrics, and human experts,
with a focus on ancient Greek vases, (ii) Mussel species identification and a demonstra-
tion that shape may not be enough in some applications, (iii) A novel tool to monitor
the development of k Ì„ak Ì„ap Ì„o chicks, and (iv) Classifying individual kiwi based on acoustic
data from their calls.
By combining tools from computer vision and machine learning with methods of elastic
shape analysis, we introduce a practical framework for the application of elastic shape
analysis, through a data science lens
Radio frequency communication and fault detection for railway signalling
The continuous and swift progression of both wireless and wired communication technologies in today's
world owes its success to the foundational systems established earlier. These systems serve as the building
blocks that enable the enhancement of services to cater to evolving requirements. Studying the
vulnerabilities of previously designed systems and their current usage leads to the development of new
communication technologies replacing the old ones such as GSM-R in the railway field. The current industrial
research has a specific focus on finding an appropriate telecommunication solution for railway
communications that will replace the GSM-R standard which will be switched off in the next years.
Various standardization organizations are currently exploring and designing a radiofrequency technology
based standard solution to serve railway communications in the form of FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile
Communication System) to substitute the current GSM-R. Bearing on this topic, the primary strategic
objective of the research is to assess the feasibility to leverage on the current public network technologies
such as LTE to cater to mission and safety critical communication for low density lines. The research aims
to identify the constraints, define a service level agreement with telecom operators, and establish the
necessary implementations to make the system as reliable as possible over an open and public network,
while considering safety and cybersecurity aspects.
The LTE infrastructure would be utilized to transmit the vital data for the communication of a railway system
and to gather and transmit all the field measurements to the control room for maintenance purposes. Given
the significance of maintenance activities in the railway sector, the ongoing research includes the
implementation of a machine learning algorithm to detect railway equipment faults, reducing time and
human analysis errors due to the large volume of measurements from the field
Linear-time computation of cyclic roots and cyclic covers of a string
Cyclic versions of covers and roots of a string are considered in this paper. A prefix V of a string S is a cyclic root of S if S is a concatenation of cyclic rotations of V . A prefix V of S is a cyclic cover of S if the occurrences of the cyclic rotations of V cover all positions of S. We present O(n)-time algorithms computing all cyclic roots (using number-theoretic tools) and all cyclic covers (using tools related to seeds) of a length-n string over an integer alphabet. Our results improve upon O(n log log n) and O(n log n) time complexities of recent algorithms of Grossi et al. (WALCOM 2023) for the respective problems and provide novel approaches to the problems. As a by-product, we obtain an optimal data structure for Internal Circular Pattern Matching queries that generalize Internal Pattern Matching and Cyclic Equivalence queries of Kociumaka et al. (SODA 2015)
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