15,611 research outputs found
Neural Sampling by Irregular Gating Inhibition of Spiking Neurons and Attractor Networks
A long tradition in theoretical neuroscience casts sensory processing in the
brain as the process of inferring the maximally consistent interpretations of
imperfect sensory input. Recently it has been shown that Gamma-band inhibition
can enable neural attractor networks to approximately carry out such a sampling
mechanism. In this paper we propose a novel neural network model based on
irregular gating inhibition, show analytically how it implements a Monte-Carlo
Markov Chain (MCMC) sampler, and describe how it can be used to model networks
of both neural attractors as well as of single spiking neurons. Finally we show
how this model applied to spiking neurons gives rise to a new putative
mechanism that could be used to implement stochastic synaptic weights in
biological neural networks and in neuromorphic hardware
An event-based architecture for solving constraint satisfaction problems
Constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) are typically solved using
conventional von Neumann computing architectures. However, these architectures
do not reflect the distributed nature of many of these problems and are thus
ill-suited to solving them. In this paper we present a hybrid analog/digital
hardware architecture specifically designed to solve such problems. We cast
CSPs as networks of stereotyped multi-stable oscillatory elements that
communicate using digital pulses, or events. The oscillatory elements are
implemented using analog non-stochastic circuits. The non-repeating phase
relations among the oscillatory elements drive the exploration of the solution
space. We show that this hardware architecture can yield state-of-the-art
performance on a number of CSPs under reasonable assumptions on the
implementation. We present measurements from a prototype electronic chip to
demonstrate that a physical implementation of the proposed architecture is
robust to practical non-idealities and to validate the theory proposed.Comment: First two authors contributed equally to this wor
Neural correlates of emotion processing comparing antidepressants and exogenous oxytocin in postpartum depressed women: An exploratory study
Despite common use of antidepressants to treat postpartum depression, little is known about the impact of antidepressant use on postpartum brain activity. Additionally, although oxytocin has been investigated as a potential treatment for postpartum depression, the interaction between antidepressants and exogenous oxytocin on brain activity is unknown. We explored postpartum depressed women’s neural activation in areas identified as important to emotion and reward processing and potentially, antidepressant response: the amygdala, nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area. We conducted a secondary analysis of a functional imaging study of response to sexual, crying infant and smiling infant images in 23 postpartum depressed women with infants under six months (11 women taking antidepressants, 12 unmedicated). Participants were randomized to receive a single dose of oxytocin or placebo nasal spray. There was significantly higher amygdala activation to sexual stimuli than either neutral or infant-related stimuli among women taking antidepressants or receiving oxytocin nasal spray. Among unmedicated women receiving placebo, amygdala activation was similar across stimuli types. There were no significant effects of antidepressants nor oxytocin nasal spray on reward area processing (i.e., in the nucleus accumbens or ventral tegmental area). Among postpartum women who remain depressed, there may be significant interactions between the effects of antidepressant use and exogenous oxytocin on neural activity associated with processing emotional information. Observed effect sizes were moderate to large, strongly suggesting the need for further replication with a larger sample
A differential memristive synapse circuit for on-line learning in neuromorphic computing systems
Spike-based learning with memristive devices in neuromorphic computing
architectures typically uses learning circuits that require overlapping pulses
from pre- and post-synaptic nodes. This imposes severe constraints on the
length of the pulses transmitted in the network, and on the network's
throughput. Furthermore, most of these circuits do not decouple the currents
flowing through memristive devices from the one stimulating the target neuron.
This can be a problem when using devices with high conductance values, because
of the resulting large currents. In this paper we propose a novel circuit that
decouples the current produced by the memristive device from the one used to
stimulate the post-synaptic neuron, by using a novel differential scheme based
on the Gilbert normalizer circuit. We show how this circuit is useful for
reducing the effect of variability in the memristive devices, and how it is
ideally suited for spike-based learning mechanisms that do not require
overlapping pre- and post-synaptic pulses. We demonstrate the features of the
proposed synapse circuit with SPICE simulations, and validate its learning
properties with high-level behavioral network simulations which use a
stochastic gradient descent learning rule in two classification tasks.Comment: 18 Pages main text, 9 pages of supplementary text, 19 figures.
Patente
A Dyson-Schwinger study of the four-gluon vertex
We present a self-consistent calculation of the four-gluon vertex of Landau
gauge Yang--Mills theory from a truncated Dyson--Schwinger equation. The
equation contains the leading diagrams in the ultraviolet and is solved using
as the only input results for lower Green functions from previous
Dyson--Schwinger calculations that are in good agreement with lattice data. All
quantities are therefore fixed and no higher Green functions enter within this
truncation. Our self-consistent solution resolves the full momentum dependence
of the vertex but is limited to the tree-level tensor structure at the moment.
Calculations of selected dressing functions for other tensor structures from
this solution are used to exemplify that they are suppressed compared to the
tree-level structure except for possible logarithmic enhancements in the deep
infrared. Our results furthermore allow one to extract a qualitative fit for
the vertex and a running coupling.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figs.; more detailed discussion of renormalization,
version accepted by EPJ
A Close and Supportive Interparental Bond During Pregnancy Predicts Greater Decline in Sexual Activity From Pregnancy to Postpartum: Applying an Evolutionary Perspective
A common topic for advice given to parents after childbirth – both from relationship experts and popular media – is how to “bounce back” to one’s pre-pregnancy sexuality, with warnings that postpartum declines in sexual frequency will take a serious toll on one’s relationship. However, these admonishments may not accurately reflect the ways in which the unique reproductive context of pregnancy and the postpartum transition alter associations between sexual frequency and relationship quality. Evolutionary perspectives on reproductive strategies would suggest that in the postpartum context, decreased sexual activity would help target parental investment in the current offspring (rather than creating new offspring); however, if the parental relationship is lacking in intimacy and support, continued sexual activity may help seal the cracks in the bond. We tested this theory in a longitudinal dyadic study of changes in relationship quality and sexual frequency from pregnancy to 6 months postpartum among 159 heterosexual couples. We found that across three different measures of relationship quality taken from interviews and behavioral observation of couple interactions, higher relationship quality (i.e., greater support, intimacy, and responsiveness) predicted greater decline in sexual frequency whereas sexual frequency remained relatively stable in lower quality relationships. These findings suggest that, during the postpartum transition, decreased sexual frequency may not be a reliable signal of poor relationship quality
A neuromorphic systems approach to in-memory computing with non-ideal memristive devices: From mitigation to exploitation
Memristive devices represent a promising technology for building neuromorphic
electronic systems. In addition to their compactness and non-volatility
features, they are characterized by computationally relevant physical
properties, such as state-dependence, non-linear conductance changes, and
intrinsic variability in both their switching threshold and conductance values,
that make them ideal devices for emulating the bio-physics of real synapses. In
this paper we present a spiking neural network architecture that supports the
use of memristive devices as synaptic elements, and propose mixed-signal
analog-digital interfacing circuits which mitigate the effect of variability in
their conductance values and exploit their variability in the switching
threshold, for implementing stochastic learning. The effect of device
variability is mitigated by using pairs of memristive devices configured in a
complementary push-pull mechanism and interfaced to a current-mode normalizer
circuit. The stochastic learning mechanism is obtained by mapping the desired
change in synaptic weight into a corresponding switching probability that is
derived from the intrinsic stochastic behavior of memristive devices. We
demonstrate the features of the CMOS circuits and apply the architecture
proposed to a standard neural network hand-written digit classification
benchmark based on the MNIST data-set. We evaluate the performance of the
approach proposed on this benchmark using behavioral-level spiking neural
network simulation, showing both the effect of the reduction in conductance
variability produced by the current-mode normalizer circuit, and the increase
in performance as a function of the number of memristive devices used in each
synapse.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, accepted for Faraday Discussion
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