Paper List
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A Unified Variational Principle for Branching Transport Networks: Wave Impedance, Viscous Flow, and Tissue Metabolism
This paper solves the core problem of predicting the empirically observed branching exponent (α≈2.7) in mammalian arterial trees, which neither Murray...
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Household Bubbling Strategies for Epidemic Control and Social Connectivity
This paper addresses the core challenge of designing household merging (social bubble) strategies that effectively control epidemic risk while maximiz...
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Empowering Chemical Structures with Biological Insights for Scalable Phenotypic Virtual Screening
This paper addresses the core challenge of bridging the gap between scalable chemical structure screening and biologically informative but resource-in...
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A mechanical bifurcation constrains the evolution of cell sheet folding in the family Volvocaceae
This paper addresses the core problem of why there is an evolutionary gap in species with intermediate cell numbers (e.g., 256 cells) in Volvocaceae, ...
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Bayesian Inference in Epidemic Modelling: A Beginner’s Guide Illustrated with the SIR Model
This guide addresses the core challenge of estimating uncertain epidemiological parameters (like transmission and recovery rates) from noisy, real-wor...
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Geometric framework for biological evolution
This paper addresses the fundamental challenge of developing a coordinate-independent, geometric description of evolutionary dynamics that bridges gen...
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A multiscale discrete-to-continuum framework for structured population models
This paper addresses the core challenge of systematically deriving uniformly valid continuum approximations from discrete structured population models...
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Whole slide and microscopy image analysis with QuPath and OMERO
使QuPath能够直接分析存储在OMERO服务器中的图像而无需下载整个数据集,克服了大规模研究的本地存储限制。
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.