Paper List
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Nyxus: A Next Generation Image Feature Extraction Library for the Big Data and AI Era
This paper addresses the core pain point of efficiently extracting standardized, comparable features from massive (terabyte to petabyte-scale) biomedi...
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Topological Enhancement of Protein Kinetic Stability
This work addresses the long-standing puzzle of why knotted proteins exist by demonstrating that deep knots provide a functional advantage through enh...
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A Multi-Label Temporal Convolutional Framework for Transcription Factor Binding Characterization
This paper addresses the critical limitation of existing TF binding prediction methods that treat transcription factors as independent entities, faili...
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Social Distancing Equilibria in Games under Conventional SI Dynamics
This paper solves the core problem of proving the existence and uniqueness of Nash equilibria in finite-duration SI epidemic games, showing they are a...
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Binding Free Energies without Alchemy
This paper addresses the core bottleneck of computational expense in Absolute Binding Free Energy calculations by eliminating the need for numerous al...
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SHREC: A Spectral Embedding-Based Approach for Ab-Initio Reconstruction of Helical Molecules
This paper addresses the core bottleneck in cryo-EM helical reconstruction: eliminating the dependency on accurate initial symmetry parameter estimati...
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Budget-Sensitive Discovery Scoring: A Formally Verified Framework for Evaluating AI-Guided Scientific Selection
This paper addresses the critical gap in evaluating AI-guided scientific selection strategies under realistic budget constraints, where existing metri...
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Probabilistic Joint and Individual Variation Explained (ProJIVE) for Data Integration
This paper addresses the core challenge of accurately decomposing shared (joint) and dataset-specific (individual) sources of variation in multi-modal...
Formation of Artificial Neural Assemblies by Biologically Plausible Inhibition Mechanisms
Neuroscience Graduate Program, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | Department of Computer Science, University of Exeter, UK | Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, UK | Physics Department, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
30秒速读
IN SHORT: This work addresses the core limitation of the Assembly Calculus model—its fixed-size, biologically implausible k-WTA selection process—by introducing a dynamic, gamma-oscillation-inspired E%-WTA mechanism and feedforward inhibition, enabling more realistic, self-determined assembly formation and superior retrieval.
核心创新
- Methodology Proposes the E%-Winners-Take-All (E%-WTA) selection mechanism, inspired by gamma oscillation dynamics, which allows a variable number of neurons to fire based on input strength, replacing the fixed-k selection of the original model.
- Methodology Integrates a biologically plausible feedforward inhibition mechanism based on the cortical excitatory-inhibitory neuron ratio (e.g., pi=0.2), enhancing network stability and assembly formation.
- Biology Defines a more rigorous, multi-condition criterion for assembly formation (stationary pattern, synchronization, higher synaptic density), moving beyond the original model's simpler 'no new winners' rule.
主要结论
- The E%-WTA model with feedforward inhibition (ωinh = -0.2, β ≤ 0.01) successfully forms neural assemblies where size is dynamically determined by network activity, not preset, addressing a key biological limitation.
- The new model achieves a superior assembly recovery rate (evocation accuracy) compared to the original AC model, demonstrating enhanced functional stability and memory retrieval capability.
- The introduced formation conditions (stationary pattern, synchronization, higher synaptic density) converge reliably in simulations, providing a robust framework for defining and identifying stable neural assemblies.
摘要: As proposed by Hebb’s theory, neural assemblies are groups of excitatory neurons that fire synchronously and exhibit high synaptic density, representing external stimuli and supporting cognitive functions such as language and decision-making. Recently, a model called Assembly Calculus (AC) was proposed, enabling the formation of artificial neural assemblies through the kk-winners-take-all selection process and Hebbian learning. Although the model is capable of forming assemblies according to Hebb’s theory, the adopted selection process does not incorporate essential aspects of biological neural computation, as neural activity, which is often governed by statistical distributions consistent with power-law scaling. Given this limitation, the present work aimed to bring the model’s dynamics closer to that observed in real cortical networks. To achieve this, a new selection mechanism inspired by the dynamics of gamma oscillation cycles, called E%-winners-take-all, was implemented, combined with an inhibition process based on the ratio between excitatory and inhibitory neurons observed in various regions of the cerebral cortex. The results obtained from our model (called E%-WTA model) were compared with those of the original model, and the analyses demonstrated that the introduced modifications allowed the network’s own dynamics to determine the size of the formed assemblies. Furthermore, the recovery rate of these groups, through the evocation of the stimuli that generated them, became superior to that obtained in the original model.