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          <p style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><a href="https://streaklinks.com/BT7ApM4NDVkoziHWhQptf9sP/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wwtns.online" target="_blank"></a></font></p></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><p style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><a href="https://streaklinks.com/A9c7PbbpKY7PxB6PaAJWGD3-/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wwtns.online" hspace="streak-track" target="_blank">https://www.wwtns.online</a>
              - on twitter: wwtns@TheoreticalWide - on Youtube</font></p></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align:center"><br></div><div style="text-align:center"><font size="4">New on the VVTNS YouTube Channel </font></div><div style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><a href="https://www.wwtns.online/past-seminars-2025-2026" target="_blank">https://www.wwtns.online/past-seminars-2025-2026</a></font></div><div style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><br></font></div><div style="text-align:center"><div><span style="font-family:spinnaker,sans-serif;font-size:20px"><b><font color="#000000">Continuous representations in small, discrete circuits</font></b></span></div><div><br></div><div><span style="color:rgb(13,13,13);font-family:Roboto,Noto,sans-serif;text-align:start"><font size="4">lecture delivered on February 4,  2026  by</font></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Roboto,Noto,sans-serif;text-align:start"><font size="4" color="#000000"><br></font></span></div><div><p style="background:transparent;border:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:18px;line-height:1.6em;font-family:spinnaker,sans-serif;margin:0px"><span style="background:transparent;border:0px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;font-family:helvetica-w01-roman,helvetica-w02-roman,helvetica-lt-w10-roman,sans-serif"><span style="background:transparent;border:0px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="background:transparent;border:0px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><font color="#000000">Marcella Noorman</font></span></span></span></p><p style="background:transparent;border:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:18px;line-height:1.6em;font-family:spinnaker,sans-serif;margin:0px"><span style="background:transparent;border:0px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;font-family:helvetica-w01-roman,helvetica-w02-roman,helvetica-lt-w10-roman,sans-serif"><span style="background:transparent;border:0px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="background:transparent;border:0px;margin:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><font color="#000000">University of Chicago</font></span></span></span></p></div><div><br></div><div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div></div><div style="text-align:left"><font color="#000000"><b>Abstract: </b><span style="font-family:spinnaker,sans-serif;font-size:14px;text-align:justify">Many animals rely on persistent internal representations of continuous angular variables for working memory, motor control, and navigation. Theories have proposed that such representations are maintained by a class of recurrently connected networks called ring attractor networks. These networks rely on large numbers of neurons to maintain continuous and stable representations and to accurately integrate incoming signals. The head direction system of the fruit fly, however, seems to achieve these properties with a remarkably small network. These findings challenge our understanding of ring attractors and their putative implementation in neural circuits. In this talk, I will show analytically how small networks can overcome the constraints of their size to generate a ring attractor and are hence capable of stably maintaining an internal representation of a continuous, periodic variable. Further, I will show how ring attractors emerge in small threshold linear networks through the coordination of a discrete set of line attractors. More broadly, this work informs our understanding of the functional capabilities of small, discrete systems.</span></font></div><div style="text-align:center"><br></div><div style="text-align:center"><p style="text-align:left;background:transparent;border:0px;outline:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:1.6em;font-family:spinnaker,sans-serif;margin:0px"><i style="background-color:transparent;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(80,0,80)"><font color="#000000"><span style="font-family:helvetica-w01-light,helvetica-w02-light,sans-serif;text-align:justify"><b>About VVTNS :</b> Launched as the World Wide  Theoretical Neuroscience Seminar (WWTN</span><span style="font-family:helvetica-w01-light,helvetica-w02-light,sans-serif;text-align:justify">S) in N</span></font><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:helvetica-w01-light,helvetica-w02-light,sans-serif;text-align:justify">ovember 2020 and renamed in homage to Carl van Vreeswijk in Memoriam (April 20, 2022), Speakers have the occasion to talk about theoretical aspects of their work which cannot be discussed in a setting where the majority of the audience consists of experimentalists. The seminars, </span></i><i style="background-color:transparent;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(80,0,80)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:helvetica-w01-light,helvetica-w02-light,sans-serif;text-align:justify">held on Wednesdays at 11 am ET,</span></i><i style="background-color:transparent;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(80,0,80)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:helvetica-w01-light,helvetica-w02-light,sans-serif;text-align:justify">  are 45-50 min long followed by a discussion. The talks are recorded with authorization of the speaker and are available to everybody on our YouTube channel.</span></i></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div id="m_-7627160758997368950m_5509523003637554824m_-436179444694456296m_-7681628874649059375m_7750187461389672445m_9094229232797745075m_-1462542758380322657m_7936782669738885075m_2132234319318737290m_3082520148829658712m_6732243839182647882m_-287356451416637581m_9199497142594163290m_3123758975499956944m_-4285543598660325014m_3406622003034096663m_-4434917348957094547m_6996923250378584115m_4339855878333796038m_2618317786332564474m_-6182961172059790657m_-6761930163476888199m_-1789248717287360482m_-7753075062499186717mt-signature"><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;background:transparent;line-height:1.6em"><br></p><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;background:transparent;font-size:18px;line-height:1.6em;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-align:center"><br></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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