Related papers: Characterizing the neural correlates of reasoning
Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) are widely used throughout neuroscience as models of local neural activity. Many properties of single RNNs are well characterized theoretically, but experimental neuroscience has moved in the direction of…
In this review, we describe the singular success of attractor neural network models in describing how the brain maintains persistent activity states for working memory, error-corrects, and integrates noisy cues. We consider the mechanisms…
Statistical mechanics determines the abundance of different arrangements of matter depending on cost-benefit balances. Its formalism and phenomenology percolate throughout biological processes and set limits to effective computation. Under…
Connecting neural activity to function is a common aim in neuroscience. How to define and conceptualize function, however, can vary. Here I focus on grounding this goal in the specific question of how a given change in behavior is produced…
Neuroscience has focused on the detailed implementation of computation, studying neural codes, dynamics and circuits. In machine learning, however, artificial neural networks tend to eschew precisely designed codes, dynamics or circuits in…
We all are fascinated by the phenomena of intelligent behavior, as generated both by our own brains and by the brains of other animals. As physicists we would like to understand if there are some general principles that govern the structure…
Diverse cognitive processes set different demands on locally segregated and globally integrated brain activity. However, it remains unclear how resting brains configure their functional organization to balance the demands on network…
Sequential neuronal activity underlies a wide range of processes in the brain. Neuroscientific evidence for neuronal sequences has been reported in domains as diverse as perception, motor control, speech, spatial navigation and memory.…
Flexible modulation of temporal dynamics in neural sequences underlies many cognitive processes. For instance, we can adaptively change the speed of motor sequences and speech. While such flexibility is influenced by various factors such as…
Dynamics play a critical role in computation. The principled evolution of states over time enables both biological and artificial networks to represent and integrate information to make decisions. In the past few decades, significant…
We study functional activity in the human brain using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and recently developed tools from network science. The data arise from the performance of a simple behavioural motor learning task. Unsupervised…
We begin this chapter with the bold claim that it provides a neuroscientific explanation of the magic of creativity. Creativity presents a formidable challenge for neuroscience. Neuroscience generally involves studying what happens in the…
Learning underlies nearly all human behavior and is central to education and education reform. Although recent advances in neuroscience have revealed the fundamental structure of learning processes, these insights have yet to be integrated…
We propose a new self-organizing mechanism behind the emergence of memory in which temporal sequences of stimuli are transformed into spatial activity patterns. In particular, the memory emerges despite the absence of temporal correlations…
This chapter takes as its departure point a neural level theory of insight that arose from studies of the sparse, distributed, content-addressable architecture of associative memory. It is argued that convergent thought is most fruitfully…
Reasoning-trained language models often spend more tokens on harder problems, but longer chains of thought do not show whether a model is merely computing for more steps or following a different internal trajectory. We study this…
Our current understanding of brain rhythms is based on quantifying their instantaneous or time-averaged characteristics. What remains unexplored, is the actual structure of the waves -- their shapes and patterns over finite timescales. To…
Neural correlations during a cognitive task are central to study brain information processing and computation. However, they have been poorly analyzed due to the difficulty of recording simultaneous single neurons during task performance.…
Redundancy is a ubiquitous property of the nervous system. This means that vastly different configurations of cellular and synaptic components can enable the same neural circuit functions. However, until recently very little brain disorder…
Converging research suggests that the resting brain operates at the cusp of dynamic instability signified by scale-free temporal correlations. We asked if the scaling properties of these correlations differ between amplitude and phase…