Related papers: A positive mood, a flexible brain
One of the central aims of neuroscience is to reliably predict the behavioral response of an organism using its neural activity. If possible, this implies we can causally manipulate the neural response and design brain-computer-interface…
Conventional neuroimaging analyses have revealed the computational specificity of localized brain regions, exploiting the power of the subtraction technique in fMRI and event-related potential analyses in EEG. Moving beyond this convention,…
In a many body system, constituents interact with each other, forming a recursive pattern of interaction and giving rise to many interesting phenomena. Based upon concepts of the modern many body theory, a model for a generic many body…
Understanding the neural basis of language comprehension in the brain has been a long-standing goal of various scientific research programs. Recent advances in language modelling and in neuroimaging methodology promise potential…
Cognitive neuroscience explores the mechanisms of cognition by studying its structural and functional brain correlates. Here, we report the first systematic review that assesses how information from structural and functional neuroimaging…
Curiosity is the strong desire to learn or know more about something or someone. Since learning is often a social endeavor, social dynamics in collaborative learning may inevitably influence curiosity. There is a scarcity of research,…
This paper suggests a learning-theoretic perspective on how synaptic plasticity benefits global brain functioning. We introduce a model, the selectron, that (i) arises as the fast time constant limit of leaky integrate-and-fire neurons…
We analyze the connectivity structure of weighted brain networks extracted from spontaneous magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals of healthy subjects and epileptic patients (suffering from absence seizures) recorded at rest. We find that,…
Modularity has been widely studied as a mechanism to improve the capabilities of neural networks through various techniques such as hand-crafted modular architectures and automatic approaches. While these methods have sometimes shown…
As the human brain develops, it increasingly supports coordinated control of neural activity. The mechanism by which white matter evolves to support this coordination is not well understood. We use a network representation of diffusion…
Reinforcement learning agents learn from rewards, but humans can uniquely assign value to novel, abstract outcomes in a goal-dependent manner. However, this flexibility is cognitively costly, making learning less efficient. Here, we propose…
Meta-learning aims to develop algorithms that can learn from other learning algorithms to adapt to new and changing environments. This requires a model of how other learning algorithms operate and perform in different contexts, which is…
People often strive for deep engagement in activities which is usually associated with feelings of flow: a state of full task absorption accompanied by a sense of control and fulfillment. The intrinsic factors driving such engagement and…
We develop a novel framework of bounded rationality under cognitive frictions that studies learning over optimal behavior through both deliberative reasoning and accumulated experiences. Using both types of information, agents engage in…
Predictive coding theory suggests that the brain continuously anticipates upcoming words to optimize language processing, but the neural mechanisms remain unclear, particularly in naturalistic speech. Here, we simultaneously recorded EEG…
The brain is a complex organ characterized by heterogeneous patterns of structural connections supporting unparalleled feats of cognition and a wide range of behaviors. New noninvasive imaging techniques now allow these patterns to be…
Motivation is a central driver of human behavior, shaping decisions, goals, and task performance. As large language models (LLMs) become increasingly aligned with human preferences, we ask whether they exhibit something akin to motivation.…
Social learning is a powerful mechanism through which agents learn about the world from others. However, humans don't always choose to observe others, since social learning can carry time and cognitive resource costs. How do people balance…
Recent approaches to human concept learning have successfully combined the power of symbolic, infinitely productive rule systems and statistical learning to explain our ability to learn new concepts from just a few examples. The aim of most…
Learning and memory relies on synapses changing their strengths in response to neural activity. However there is a substantial gap between the timescales of neural electrical dynamics (1-100 ms) and organism behaviour during learning…