University of Cambridge > Talks.cam > Computational and Biological Learning Seminar Series > Optimal encoding and decoding in sensory populations

  Browse A-Z

Log in

Cambridge users (raven)details Other usersdetails No account?details

Information on

Subscribing to talksdetails Finding a talkdetails Adding a talkdetails Disseminating talksdetails Help and Documentationdetails

Optimal encoding and decoding in sensory populations

Add to your list(s) Download to your calendar using vCal

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Dr Máté Lengyel.

Experimental evidence suggests that human judgments of many perceptual attributes are consistent with Bayesian estimation, in which noisy sensory measurements are combined with prior knowledge of the environmental distribution of those attributes. How are such computations achieved in the brain? I’ll first describe a means by which populations of neurons can efficiently encode a scalar sensory variable. The structure of this representation, which can be derived in closed form based on the prior distribution of the relevant sensory variable, provides an implicit encoding of the prior, and is consistent with both physiological and perceptual data for a variety of sensory attributes. I’ll then describe a novel decoder that can approximate the Bayes least squares estimate, converging to the true value as the neural population size increases. The decoder is neurally plausible, and requires knowledge only of the preferred stimuli and a fixed filter, and not the prior distribution or family of tuning curves. I’ll end by discussing the means by which the neural populations might go about learning these representations.

This talk is part of the Computational and Biological Learning Seminar Series series.

Tell a friend about this talk:

This talk is included in these lists:

Note that ex-directory lists are not shown.

Other lists

Film Screenings and Talks Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society Eurocrisis Conference 14-15 June

Other talks

Microtubule Modulation of Myocyte Mechanics An experimental analysis of the effect of Quantitative Easing Bullion or specie? The role of Spanish American silver coins in Europe and Asia throughout the 18th century The Ethical and Legal Elements of Capacity and Consent Climate Change Uncertainty, Adaptation, and Growth Dynamics of Phenotypic and Genomic Evolution in a Long-Term Experiment with E. coli "Mechanosensitive regulation of cancer epigenetics and pluripotency" 'Cryptocurrency and BLOCKCHAIN – PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE' Amino acid sensing: the elF2a signalling in the control of biological functions Cambridge - Corporate Finance Theory Symposium September 2017 - Day 1
 

© 2006-2023 Talks.cam, University of Cambridge. Contact Us | Help and Documentation | Privacy and Publicity