1,720,983 research outputs found
Statistical and dynamical properties of large cortical network models: insights into semantic memory and language
Get PDFThis thesis introduces several variants to the classical autoassociative memory model in order to capture different characteristics of large cortical networks, using semantic memory as a paradigmatic example in which to apply the results. Chapter 2 is devoted to the development of the sparse Potts model network as a simplification of a multi modular memory performing computations both at the local and the global level. If a network storing p global patterns has N local modules, each one active in S possible ways with a global sparseness a, and if each module is connected to cM other modules, the storage capacity scales like αc ≡ pmax /cM ∝ S 2 /a with logarithmic corrections. Chapter 3 further introduces adaptation and correlations among patterns, as a result of which a latching dynamics appears, consistent in the spontaneous hopping between global attractor states after an initial cue-guided
retrieval, somehow similar to a free association process. The complexity of the latching series depends on the equilibrium between self-excitation of the local networks and global inhibition represented by the parameter U. Finally, Chapter 4 develops a consistent way to store and retrieve correlated patterns, which works as long as any statistical dependence between units can be neglected. The popularity of units must be introduced into the learning rule,
as a result of which a new property of associative memories appears: the robustness of a memory is inverse to the information it conveys. As in some accounts of semantic memory deficits, random damage results in selective impairments, associated to the entropy measure Sf of each memory, since the minimum connectivity required to sustain its retrieval is, in optimal conditions, cM ∝ pSf , and still proportional to pSf but possibly with a larger coefficient in the general case. Present in the entire thesis, but specially in this last Chapter, the conjecture stating that autoassociative memories are limited in the amount of information stored per synapse results consistent with the results
Grid alignment in entorhinal cortex
Get PDFThe spatial responses of many of the cells recorded in all layers of rodent medial entorhinal cortex (mEC) show mutually aligned grid patterns. Recent experimental findings have shown that grids can often be better described as elliptical rather than purely circular and that, beyond the mutual alignment of their grid axes, ellipses tend to also orient their long axis along preferred directions. Are grid alignment and ellipse orientation aspects of the same phenomenon? Does the grid alignment result from single-unit mechanisms or does it require network interactions? We address these issues by refining a single-unit adaptation model of grid formation, to describe specifically the spontaneous emergence of conjunctive grid-by-head-direction cells in layers III, V, and VI of mEC. We find that tight alignment can be produced by recurrent collateral interactions, but this requires head-direction (HD) modulation. Through a competitive learning process driven by spatial inputs, grid fields then form already aligned, and with randomly distributed spatial phases. In addition, we find that the self-organization process is influenced by any anisotropy in the behavior of the simulated rat. The common grid alignment often orients along preferred running directions (RDs), as induced in a square environment. When speed anisotropy is present in exploration behavior, the shape of individual grids is distorted toward an ellipsoid arrangement. Speed anisotropy orients the long ellipse axis along the fast direction. Speed anisotropy on its own also tends to align grids, even without collaterals, but the alignment is seen to be loose. Finally, the alignment of spatial grid fields in multiple environments shows that the network expresses the same set of grid fields across environments, modulo a coherent rotation and translation. Thus, an efficient metric encoding of space may emerge through spontaneous pattern formation at the single-unit level, but it is coherent, hence context-invariant, if aided by collateral interactions
Grid maps for spaceflight, anyone? They are for free!
Get PDFWe show that, given extensive exploration of a three-dimensional volume, grid units can form with the approximate periodicity of a face-centered cubic crystal, as the spontaneous product of a self-organizing process at the single unit level, driven solely by firing rate adaptatio
Grid cells on the ball
Get PDFWhat sort of grid cells do we expect to see in rodents who have spent their developmental period inside a large spherical cage? Or, in a different experimental paradigm, toddling on a revolving ball, with virtual reality simulating a coherently revolving surround? We consider a simple model of grid firing map formation, based on firing rate adaptation, that we have earlier analyzed when playing out on a flat environment. The model predicts that whether experienced on the outside or inside, a spherical environment induces one of a succession of grid maps realized as combinations of spherical harmonics, depending on the relation of the radius to the preferred grid spacing, itself related to the parameters of firing rate adaptation. Numerical simulations concur with analytical predictions
Dynamic Role of Adult-Born Dentate Granule Cells in Memory Processing
Get PDFThroughout the adult life of all mammals including humans, new neurons are incorporated to the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. During a critical window that lasts about two weeks, adult-born immature neurons are more excitable and plastic than mature ones, and they respond to a wider range of inputs. In apparent contradiction, new neurons have been shown to be crucial to solve behavioral tasks that involve the discrimination of very similar situations, which would instead require high input specificity. We propose that immature neurons are initially unspecific because their task is to identify novel elements inside a high dimensional input space. With maturation, they would specialize to represent details of these novel inputs, favoring discrimination.Fil: Kropff, Emilio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Yang, Sung Min. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Schinder, Alejandro Fabián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; Argentin
Modeled grid cells aligned by a flexible attractor
Get PDFEntorhinal grid cells implement a spatial code with hexagonal periodicity, signaling the position of the animal within an environment. Grid maps of cells belonging to the same module share spacing and orientation, only differing in relative two-dimensional spatial phase, which could result from being interconnected by a two-dimensional attractor. However, this architecture has the drawbacks of being complex to construct and rigid, allowing no deviations from the hexagonal pattern such as the ones observed under a variety of experimental manipulations. Here we show that a simpler one-dimensional attractor is enough to align grid cells equally well. Using topological data analysis, we show that the resulting population activity is a sample of a torus, while the ensemble of maps preserves features of the network architecture. The flexibility of this low dimensional attractor allows it to negotiate the geometry of the representation manifold with the feedforward inputs, rather than imposing it. More generally, our results represent a proof of principle against the intuition that the architecture and the representation manifold of an attractor are the same topological object, with implications to the study of attractor networks across the brain.Fil: Benas, Sabrina Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física; ArgentinaFil: Fernández, Ximena Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Kropff, Emilio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; Argentin
Frequency of theta rhythm is controlled by acceleration, but not speed, in running rats
Get PDFThe theta rhythm organizes neural activity across hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. A role for theta oscillations in spatial navigation is supported by half a century of research reporting that theta frequency encodes running speed linearly so that displacement can be estimated through theta frequency integration. We show that this relationship is an artifact caused by the fact that the speed of freely moving animals could not be systematically disentangled from acceleration. Using an experimental procedure that clamps running speed at pre-set values, we find that the theta frequency of local field potentials and spike activity is linearly related to positive acceleration, but not negative acceleration or speed. The modulation by positive-only acceleration makes rhythmic activity at theta frequency unfit as a code to compute displacement or any other kinematic variable. Temporally precise variations in theta frequency may instead serve as a mechanism for speeding up entorhinal-hippocampal computations during accelerated movement.Fil: Kropff, Emilio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Norwegian University of Science and Technology; NoruegaFil: Carmichael, James E.. Norwegian University of Science and Technology; NoruegaFil: Moser, Edvard I.. Norwegian University of Science and Technology; NoruegaFil: Moser, May Britt. Norwegian University of Science and Technology; Norueg
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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