University of Cambridge > Talks.cam > Craik Club > Bayesian inference with probabilistic population codes

  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

Bayesian inference with probabilistic population codes

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

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Cordula Becker.

Recent psychophysical experiments indicate that humans perform near-optimal Bayesian inference in a wide variety of tasks, ranging from cue integration to decision-making to motor control. This implies that neurons both represent probability distributions and combine those distributions according to a close approximation to Bayes rule. At first sight, it would appear that the high variability in the responses of cortical neurons would make it difficult to implement such optimal statistical inference in cortical circuits. I will show that, in fact, this variability generates probabilistic population codes which represent probability distributions over the encoded stimulus. Moreover, when the neural variability is Poisson-like, as is the case in cortex, a broad class of Bayesian inference, such as cue integration, or integrating evidence for decision-making , can be closely approximated with simple linear combinations of probabilistic population codes. Therefore, this theory suggests that the Poisson-like variability in the cortex greatly simplifies Bayesian inference in neural circuits.

This talk is part of the Craik Club series.

Tell a friend about this talk:

This talk is included in these lists:

Note that ex-directory lists are not shown.

Other lists

Cambridge Oncology Seminar Series Is there Enough for All of Us? Global Growth, Climate Change and Food Security CIDC Seminar Programme

Other talks

Graded linearisations for linear algebraic group actions Diagnosing diseases of childhood: a bioarchaeological and palaeopathological perspective Joinings of higher rank diagonalizable actions Women's Staff Network: Career Conversations Ramble through my greenhouse and Automation Symplectic topology of K3 surfaces via mirror symmetry Inferring the Evolutionary History of Cancers: Statistical Methods and Applications BP KEYNOTE LECTURE: Importance of C-O Bond Activation for CO2/COUtilization - An Approach to Energy Conversion and Storage XZ: X-ray spectroscopic redshifts of obscured AGN Bank credit rating changes, capital structure adjustments and lending
 

© 2006-2024 Talks.cam, University of Cambridge. Contact Us | Help and Documentation | Privacy and Publicity