Predictive coding: A Possible Explanation of Filling-in at the blind spot

Filling-in at the blind-spot is a perceptual phenomenon in which the visual system fills the informational void, which arises due to the absence of retinal input corresponding to the optic disc, with surrounding visual attributes. Though there are enough evidence to conclude that some kind of neural computation is involved in filling-in at the blind spot especially in the early visual cortex, the knowledge of the actual computational mechanism is far from complete. We have investigated the bar experiments and the associated filling-in phenomenon in the light of the hierarchical predictive coding framework, where the blind-spot was represented by the absence of early feed-forward connection. We recorded the responses of predictive estimator neurons at the blind-spot region in the V1 area of our three level (LGN-V1-V2) model network. These responses are in agreement with the results of earlier physiological studies and using the generative model we also showed that these response profiles indeed represent the filling-in completion. These demonstrate that predictive coding framework could account for the filling-in phenomena observed in several psychophysical and physiological experiments involving bar stimuli. These results suggest that the filling-in could naturally arise from the computational principle of hierarchical predictive coding (HPC) of natural images.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figure

Corrections to mass scale predictions in SO(10) GUT with higher dimensional operators

We calculate the two loop contribution to the predictions of the mass scales in an SO(10) grand unified theory. We consider the modified unification scale boundary conditions due to the non-renormalizable higher dimensional terms arising from quantum gravity or spontaneous compactification of extra dimensions in Kaluza-Klein type theory. We find the range of these couplings which allows left-right symmetry to survive till very low energy (as low as $\sim$ TeV) and still be compatible with the latest values of $\sin^2 \theta_W$ and $\alpha_s$ derived from LEP. We consider both the situation when the left-right parity is broken and conserved.We consider both supersymmetric and non-supersymmertic versions of the SO(10) theory.Taking the D-conserved non-susy case as an example we calculate the effects of moderate threshold uncertainties at the heavy scale, due to the unknown higgs masses,on the gravity induced couplings.Comment: 18 pages with three figures available on request([email protected]),UH-511-780-9

Distribution-neutral Welfare Ranking-Extending Pareto Principle

The well known Pareto criterion used in the context of efficiency and welfare has to do with absolute changes whereas in every domain of economic behaviour inequality or relative changes has become a major concern. We propose an inequality-preserving or distribution neutral Pareto criterion-the strong Pareto superior or SPS allocation which preserves the initial distribution and makes everyone better off. Our main result is that whenever there is a gain in the aggregate value of the relevant attribute, there exists a unique counterfactual allocation which is SPS