Paper List
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Macroscopic Dominance from Microscopic Extremes: Symmetry Breaking in Spatial Competition
This paper addresses the fundamental question of how microscopic stochastic advantages in spatial exploration translate into macroscopic resource domi...
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Linear Readout of Neural Manifolds with Continuous Variables
This paper addresses the core challenge of quantifying how the geometric structure of high-dimensional neural population activity (neural manifolds) d...
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Theory of Cell Body Lensing and Phototaxis Sign Reversal in “Eyeless” Mutants of Chlamydomonas
This paper solves the core puzzle of how eyeless mutants of Chlamydomonas exhibit reversed phototaxis by quantitatively modeling the competition betwe...
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Cross-Species Transfer Learning for Electrophysiology-to-Transcriptomics Mapping in Cortical GABAergic Interneurons
This paper addresses the challenge of predicting transcriptomic identity from electrophysiological recordings in human cortical interneurons, where li...
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Uncovering statistical structure in large-scale neural activity with Restricted Boltzmann Machines
This paper addresses the core challenge of modeling large-scale neural population activity (1500-2000 neurons) with interpretable higher-order interac...
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Realizing Common Random Numbers: Event-Keyed Hashing for Causally Valid Stochastic Models
This paper addresses the critical problem that standard stateful PRNG implementations in agent-based models violate causal validity by making random d...
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A Standardized Framework for Evaluating Gene Expression Generative Models
This paper addresses the critical lack of standardized evaluation protocols for single-cell gene expression generative models, where inconsistent metr...
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Single Molecule Localization Microscopy Challenge: A Biologically Inspired Benchmark for Long-Sequence Modeling
This paper addresses the core challenge of evaluating state-space models on biologically realistic, sparse, and stochastic temporal processes, which a...
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.