Connectionists: World wide VVTNS series: Wednesday, June 5 at 11am (EDT), Stephanie Palmer, University of Chicago | Using ML tools in neuroscience to define optimality in complex natural behaviour

[David Hansel]

[image: VVTNS.png]
https://www.wwtns.online - on twitter: wwtns at TheoreticalWide

You are cordially invited to the lecture given by

Stephanie Palmer

University of Chicago

on the topic of

*Using ML tools in neuroscience to define optimality *
*in complex natural behaviour*

The lecture will be held on zoom on *June 5, 2024*, at *11:00 am EDT *

To receive the link: https://www.wwtns.online/register-page

*Abstract:  *Biological systems must selectively encode partial information
about the environment, as dictated by the capacity constraints at work in
all living organisms. For example, we cannot see every feature of the light
field that reaches our eyes; temporal resolution is limited by transmission
noise and delays, and spatial resolution is limited by the finite number of
photoreceptors and output cells in the retina. Classical efficient coding
theory describes how sensory systems can maximize information transmission
given such capacity constraints, but it treats all input features equally.
Not all inputs are, however, of equal value to the organism. Our work
quantifies whether and how the brain selectively encodes stimulus features,
specifically predictive features, that are most useful for fast and
effective movements. We have shown that efficient predictive computation
starts at the earliest stages of the visual system in the retina. We borrow
techniques from machine learning, statistical physics, and information
theory to assess how we get terrific, predictive vision from these
imperfect (lagged and noisy) component parts. In broader terms, we aim to
build a more complete theory of efficient encoding in the brain, and along
the way have found some intriguing connections between approaches to coarse
graining in biology, machine learning, and physics.


*About VVTNS : Created as the World Wide Neuroscience Seminar (WWTNS) in
November 2020 and renamed in homage to Carl van Vreeswijk in Memoriam
(April 20, 2022), its aim is to be a platform to exchange ideas among
theoreticians. 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, **held on
Wednesdays at 11 am ET,**  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.*
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