koglist December 2023

koglist@maillist.ttk.hu

7 participants
12 discussions

[Koglist] [CEU Cogsci Talks] Budapest Computational Neuroscience Forum Dec. 12. Máté Lengyel

by Ildiko Zsoka Varga

Dear All, The CEU Department of Cognitive Science and the Center for Cognitive Computation (CCC) invites you to the upcoming meeting of the Budapest Computational Neuroscience Forum<https://ccc.ceu.edu/budapest-computational-neuroscience-forum>. Speaker: Máté Lengyel (CEU/University of Cambridge) Optimal information loading into working memory explains dynamic coding in prefrontal cortex Abstract: Working memory involves the short-term maintenance of information and is critical in many tasks. The neural circuit dynamics underlying working memory remain poorly understood, with different aspects of prefrontal cortical (PFC) responses explained by different putative mechanisms. By mathematical analysis, numerical simulations, and using recordings from monkey PFC, we investigate a critical but hitherto ignored aspect of working memory dynamics: information loading. We find that, contrary to common assumptions, optimal loading of information into working memory involves inputs that are largely orthogonal, rather than similar, to the late delay activities observed during memory maintenance, naturally leading to the widely observed phenomenon of dynamic coding in PFC. Using a novel, theoretically principled metric, we show that PFC exhibits the hallmarks of optimal information loading. We also find that optimal information loading emerges as a general dynamical strategy in task-optimized recurrent neural networks. Our theory unifies previous, seemingly conflicting theories of memory maintenance based on attractor or purely sequential dynamics, and reveals a normative principle underlying dynamic coding. Time: 17:00, Tuesday, December 12., 2023. Location: CEU, 1051 Budapest, Nádor u. 15, Room 203. and Zoom (Meeting ID: 982 9861 1033<https://ceu-edu.zoom.us/j/98298611033?pwd=UzR1Sm0wRFhuYlZWVE82Zmo5aTZqdz09> Passcode: 243903) Should you have any inquiries about the series, please contact Mihály Bányai<mailto:mihaly.s.banyai@gmail.com>. Best regards, Ildikó Varga Department Coordinator (Budapest) Department of Cognitive Science [cid:52b45085-810e-4381-bfde-8b42b1030591] H-1051 Budapest Nador u. 15. FT room 404 tel: +36-1 327-3000 2941 http://www.ceu.edu<http://www.ceu.edu/> http://cognitivescience.ceu.edu<http://cognitivescience.ceu.edu/> ______________________________________________ Subscribe by sending an empty mail to talks-subscribe(a)cogsci.ceu.edu Unsubscribe by sending an empty mail to talks-unsubscribe(a)cogsci.ceu.edu

2 years, 5 months

[Koglist] [CEU Cogsci Talks] Departmental Colloquium 6 Dec. BUDAPEST Damian Blasi: Language diversity from individual-level biases

by Ildiko Zsoka Varga

Dear All, The CEU Department of Cognitive Science invites you to the following talk: Please note that this event will be held at CEU Budapest site! Speaker: Damian Blasi (Harvard University) Language diversity from individual-level biases In this talk I’ll critically revisit the idea that individual-level biases shape language diversity. The idea is straightforward: the distribution of language structures in the world approximately follows the marginal payoff they provide to humans, in the form of ease of production, learnability, expressivity, and the like. I will discuss a number of cases from across linguistic domains but will ultimately focus on the role of learnability (as evidenced in individual-level experiments). In this regard there are multiple related hypotheses, including the notions that language structures which are (1) easier to acquire by children, (2) easier to acquire by adults and (3) easier to retain by adults, are overrepresented across the world’s languages. The main evidence I’ll use is the history and the nature of languages which instantiate almost ideal case studies for each of the hypotheses described above, accordingly: (1) Creole languages (Blasi, Michaelis & Haspelmath 2017 Nat Hum Beh), (2) languages spoken by large populations (Scherbakova et al. to appear in Sci Adv), and (3) surviving languages (i.e. languages that are no longer transmitted to newer generations, Blasi et al. in prep). I will conclude that the evidence for a direct pipeline between individual-level biases and social-level language structures is surprisingly less robust than widely assumed across the cognitive and language sciences, and I will discuss some future research directions. Date: Wednesday, Dec 6, 2023 Time: 4 PM (to 5:30 PM) CET Venue: CEU BUDAPEST site (1051 Budapest, Nádor u. 15.) N13 room 118.* and Zoom (meeting ID: 977 8672 8334<https://ceu-edu.zoom.us/j/97786728334?pwd=SXpVTkM2eFJsTUZTQU96dVVVTzFwZz09>, passcode: 425757) Chair: Eva Wittenberg *Anyone not affiliated with CEU wishing to attend in-person in Budapest must RSVP to vargai(a)ceu.edu to get access to the lecture hall. Best regards, Ildikó Varga Department Coordinator (Budapest) Department of Cognitive Science [cid:5c74b692-b124-40ef-9c2e-6ee9d52ef77d] H-1051 Budapest Nador u. 15. FT room 404 tel: +36-1 327-3000 2941 http://www.ceu.edu<http://www.ceu.edu/> http://cognitivescience.ceu.edu<http://cognitivescience.ceu.edu/> ______________________________________________ Subscribe by sending an empty mail to talks-subscribe(a)cogsci.ceu.edu Unsubscribe by sending an empty mail to talks-unsubscribe(a)cogsci.ceu.edu

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koglist December 2023