Connectionists: Utility, neural codes

[Jerry Feldman]

There is a new survey article *Ecological expected utility and the 
mythical neural code* now available on SpringerLink 
*http://www.springerlink.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi:10.1007/s11571-009-9090-4 
<http://www.springerlink.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi:10.1007/s11571-009-9090-4&sa_campaign=Email/ACE/OF>


*This is a nice hyper-linked version. The abstract is:

Neural spikes are an evolutionarily ancient innovation that remains 
nature’s unique mechanism for
rapid, long distance information transfer. It is now known that neural 
spikes sub serve a wide variety of functions and
essentially all of the basic questions about the communication role of 
spikes have been answered. Current efforts
focus on the neural communication of probabilities and utility values 
involved in decision making. Significant
progress is being made, but many framing issues remain. One basic 
problem is that the metaphor of a neural code
suggests a communication network rather than a recurrent computational 
system like the real brain. We propose
studying the various manifestations of neural spike signaling as 
adaptations that optimize a utility function called
ecological expected utility.

If you can't get access, you could ask me for a preprint.
**