Related papers: Oriented Matroids and Combinatorial Neural Codes
This dissertation explores applications of discrete geometry in mathematical neuroscience. We begin with convex neural codes, which model the activity of hippocampal place cells and other neurons with convex receptive fields. In Chapter 4,…
A combinatorial neural code is a subset of the power set $2^{[n]}$ on $[n]=\{1,\dots, n\}$, in which each $1\leq i\leq n$ represents a neuron and each element (codeword) represents the co-firing event of some neurons. Consider a space…
Convex neural codes are combinatorial structures describing the intersection pattern of a collection of convex sets. Inductively pierced codes are a particularly nice subclass of neural codes introduced in the information visualization…
Convex neural codes are subsets of the Boolean lattice that record the intersection patterns of convex sets in Euclidean space. Much work in recent years has focused on finding combinatorial criteria on codes that can be used to classify…
Neural codes allow the brain to represent, process, and store information about the world. Combinatorial codes, comprised of binary patterns of neural activity, encode information via the collective behavior of populations of neurons. A…
Neural codes serve as a language for neurons in the brain. Convex codes, which arise from the pattern of intersections of convex sets in Euclidean space, are of particular relevance to neuroscience. Not every code is convex, however, and…
We investigate combinatorial, topological and algebraic properties of certain classes of neural codes. We look into a conjecture that states if the minimal \textit{open convex} embedding dimension of a neural code is two then its minimal…
Neural codes, represented as collections of binary strings called codewords, are used to encode neural activity. A code is called convex if its codewords are represented as an arrangement of convex open sets in Euclidean space. Previous…
A convex code is a binary code generated by the pattern of intersections of a collection of open convex sets in some Euclidean space. Convex codes are relevant to neuroscience as they arise from the activity of neurons that have convex…
A combinatorial code $\mathcal{C}$ is a collection of subsets of $[n]$, or equivalently a set of points in $\{0,1\}^n$. A morphism of codes is a map from one combinatorial code to another such that the coordinates of points in the image can…
Combinatorial neural codes are $0/1$ vectors that are used to model the co-firing patterns of a set of place cells in the brain. One wide-open problem in this area is to determine when a given code can be algorithmically drawn in the plane…
We introduce new geometric and combinatorial criteria that preclude a neural code from being convex, and use them to tackle the classification problem for codes on six neurons. Along the way, we give the first example of a code that is…
Neural codes are binary codes that are used for information processing and representation in the brain. In previous work, we have shown how an algebraic structure, called the {\it neural ring}, can be used to efficiently encode geometric…
Neural codes are lists of subsets of neurons that fire together. Of particular interest are neurons called place cells, which fire when an animal is in specific, usually convex regions in space. A fundamental question, therefore, is to…
Neural codes, represented as collections of binary strings, encode neural activity and show relationships among stimuli. Certain neurons, called place cells, have been shown experimentally to fire in convex regions in space. A natural…
Neural codes are collections of binary strings motivated by patterns of neural activity. In this paper, we study algorithmic and enumerative aspects of convex neural codes in dimension 1 (i.e. on a line or a circle). We use the theory of…
Why do neurons encode information the way they do? Normative answers to this question model neural activity as the solution to an optimisation problem; for example, the celebrated efficient coding hypothesis frames neural activity as the…
Determining how the brain stores information is one of the most pressing problems in neuroscience. In many instances, the collection of stimuli for a given neuron can be modeled by a convex set in $\mathbb{R}^d$. Combinatorial objects known…
Given an intersection pattern of arbitrary sets in Euclidean space, is there an arrangement of convex open sets in Euclidean space that exhibits the same intersections? This question is combinatorial and topological in nature, but is…
An affine oriented matroid is a combinatorial abstraction of an affine hyperplane arrangement. From it, Novik, Postnikov and Sturmfels constructed a squarefree monomial ideal in a polynomial ring, called an oriented matroid ideal, and got…