book announcement--Rao

[David Weininger]

I thought readers of the Connectionists List might be interested in this 
book.  For more information, please visit http://mitpress.mit.edu/0262182246/ 
 Thank you!

Best,
David

Probabilistic Models of the Brain
Perception and Neural Function
edited by Rajesh P. N. Rao, Bruno A. Olshausen, and Michael S. Lewicki

Neurophysiological, neuroanatomical, and brain imaging studies have helped to 
shed light on how the brain transforms raw sensory information into a form 
that is useful for goal-directed behavior. A fundamental question that is 
seldom addressed by these studies, however, is why the brain uses the types 
of representations it does and what evolutionary advantage, if any, these 
representations confer. It is difficult to address such questions directly 
via animal experiments. A promising alternative is to use probabilistic 
principles such as maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference to derive models 
of brain function.

This book surveys some of the current probabilistic approaches to modeling 
and understanding brain function. Although most of the examples focus on 
vision, many of the models and techniques are applicable to other modalities 
as well. The book presents top-down computational models as well as bottom-up 
neurally motivated models of brain function. The topics covered include 
Bayesian and information-theoretic models of perception, probabilistic 
theories of neural coding and spike timing, computational models of lateral 
and cortico-cortical feedback connections, and the development of receptive 
field properties from natural signals.

Rajesh P. N. Rao is Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science 
and Engineering at the University of Washington. Bruno A. Olshausen is 
Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Center for 
Neuroscience at the University of California, Davis. Michael S. Lewicki is 
Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and the Center for 
the Neural Basis of Cognition at Carnegie Mellon University.


8 x 10, 345 pp., cloth, ISBN 0-262-18224-6

Neural Information Processing series
A Bradford Book


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David Weininger
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The MIT Press
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