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<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2">Plate (2002): <i>“Another equivalent property is that in a distributed representation one cannot interpret the
<u><span style="background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow">meaning</span></u><span style="background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow"> of activity on a single neuron in isolation</span>: the
<span style="background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow">meaning of activity</span> on any particular neuron is dependent on the activity in other neurons (Thorpe, 1995)</i>.”<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2">Thorpe (1995, p. 550): “<i>With a local representation, activity in individual units can be interpreted directly … with distributed coding individual units
<span style="background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow">cannot be interpreted</span> without knowing the state of other units in the network</i>.”<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2">Elman (1995, p. 210): “<i>These representations are distributed, which typically has the consequence that
<span style="background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow">interpretable information</span> cannot be obtained by examining activity of single hidden units</i>.”<o:p></o:p></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
1. Elman J. (1995). Language as a dynamical system, in <i>Mind as Motion: Explorations in the Dynamics of Cognition</i>, eds Port R., van Gelder T. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), 195–223.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2. PlateT. (2002). Distributed representations, in: <i>Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science</i>, ed Nadel L. (London: Macmillan), 2.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3. ThorpeS. (1995). Localized versus distributed representations, in <i>The Handbook of Brain Theory and Neural Networks</i>, ed Arbib M. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), 550.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In that discussion with Horace Barlow and others, interpretation and meaning of the activations that responded only to certain specific stimuli was the main source of discomfort to connectionists including Walter Freeman. Hence Walter asking
Rodrigo directly whether those activations had meaning and interpretation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Asim<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p>Asim Roy<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Professor, Information Systems<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Arizona State University<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color:blue"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/lifeboat.com/ex/bios.asim.roy__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!NHg1P4byXZZmMFLMgr8A4dQNxSlqyvsqWef4wrPXtCXR0f0bo0eMm-rIF8G6ZV0$">Lifeboat Foundation Bios: Professor Asim Roy</a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color:blue"><a href="https://isearch.asu.edu/profile/9973">Asim Roy | iSearch (asu.edu)</a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> Rothganger, Fred <frothga@sandia.gov>
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, August 24, 2026 8:46 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Asim Roy <ASIM.ROY@asu.edu><br>
<b>Cc:</b> connectionists@mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu<br>
<b>Subject:</b> AI@50 videos...<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Asim,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">It makes sense for you to put "meaning" in scare-quotes, since it is another ill-defined term. IMHO, the important thing is adaptive behavior. That a particular neuron fires when the organism is exposed to a stimulus
is significant because that spike does work on other parts of the system, ultimately shaping behavior. The notion of "meaning" may just be a convenience for us as observers discussing the system.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">-- Fred<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"> Connectionists <<a href="mailto:connectionists-bounces@mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu">connectionists-bounces@mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu</a>>
on behalf of Asim Roy <<a href="mailto:ASIM.ROY@asu.edu">ASIM.ROY@asu.edu</a>><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, August 21, 2026 10:47 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> KENTRIDGE, ROBERT W. <<a href="mailto:robert.kentridge@durham.ac.uk">robert.kentridge@durham.ac.uk</a>>; Gary Marcus <<a href="mailto:gary.marcus@nyu.edu">gary.marcus@nyu.edu</a>>; Stephen José Hanson <<a href="mailto:jose@rubic.rutgers.edu">jose@rubic.rutgers.edu</a>>;
Hava Siegelmann (<a href="mailto:hava.siegelmann@gmail.com">hava.siegelmann@gmail.com</a>) <<a href="mailto:hava.siegelmann@gmail.com">hava.siegelmann@gmail.com</a>>; Juergen Schmidhuber <<a href="mailto:juergen.schmidhuber@kaust.edu.sa">juergen.schmidhuber@kaust.edu.sa</a>>;
Ali Minai <<a href="mailto:minaiaa@gmail.com">minaiaa@gmail.com</a>><br>
<b>Cc:</b> <a href="mailto:director@inc.ucsd.edu">director@inc.ucsd.edu</a> <<a href="mailto:director@inc.ucsd.edu">director@inc.ucsd.edu</a>>;
<a href="mailto:connectionists@mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu">connectionists@mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu</a> <<a href="mailto:connectionists@mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu">connectionists@mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [EXTERNAL] Re: Connectionists: FW: AI@50 videos...<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p>By the way, most of these microelectrode-based studies, starting with Horace Barlow, are single cell studies. And the single cell studies are the ones that have won Noble prizes because of the insights they produced. The overall evidence from these studies
is not just about grandmother cells, but about single cells encoding abstractions and “meaning.” Reddy and Thorpe (2014) conclude:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>“<span class="spanwithbackgroundcolor"><i><span style="color:black;background:yellow">In conclusion, evidence is accumulating that “concept cells” carry
<b>high-level, abstract stimulus information</b></span></i></span>.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Single cells having “meaning” was (and still is) at the heart of discussion at that time because it contradicts the fundamental population coding idea where single neurons by themselves have no meaning, they only have meaning collectively. And Walter Freeman
at that time could not accept the idea that single cells have meaning. We were supposed to have a public debate about this at IJCNN 2011 in San Jose. Walter posed the question directly to Rodrigo Quian Quiroga, who conducted many of these experiments under
the supervision of Itzhak Fried and Christof Koch. Walter also knew Rodrigo, having been co-authors or co-editors of a book. Rodrigo came through at the last minute before the public debate, acknowledging that the single cells in his studies indeed had “meaning.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>“Meaning” and abstraction is at the heart of these debates, not grandmother cells. And finding “meaning” in activations of single cells directly contradicts the population coding hypothesis and supports instead the symbol system hypothesis.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Asim Roy<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Professor, Information Systems<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Arizona State University<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color:blue"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/lifeboat.com/ex/bios.asim.roy__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!NHg1P4byXZZmMFLMgr8A4dQNxSlqyvsqWef4wrPXtCXR0f0bo0eMm-rIF8G6ZV0$">Lifeboat Foundation Bios: Professor Asim Roy</a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color:blue"><a href="https://isearch.asu.edu/profile/9973">Asim Roy | iSearch (asu.edu)</a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
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