Simulating the Self-Organization of Winner-Take-All Networks

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Simulating the Self-Organization of Winner-Take-All Networks Roman Bauer1*, Sabina Pfister1 and Rodney Douglas1 1 Institute of Neuroinformatics Zurich, Switzerland Anatomical studies have shown that strong recurrence in local connectivity is a common feature of the superficial neocortical layers of cat visual cortex (Binzegger et al. 2004). The Winner-Take-All (WTA) network is a functional circuit that is in accordance with this type of connectivity (Douglas et al. 1989, Douglas et al. 1995, Douglas & Martin 2004), and is a hypothetical model for the canonical microcircuit. It has been shown to be powerful from a computational point of view (Maass 2000), and also been used in a wide range of applications (e.g. Indiveri 2001, Rutishauser & Douglas 2008, Nessler et al. 2010). We investigate, using the Java-based framework Cx3D (Zubler & Douglas 2009), how this type of network can develop and configure itself in a biologically plausible way. Our simulations begin from a single precursor cell, which encodes it's developmental instructions in a 'gene-like' representation (Zubler et al. 2011). Based on processes such as gene regulation, cell proliferation, axonal outgrowth and Hebbian-type synaptic learning, we obtain neuronal connectivity matching experimental observations of pyramidal and basket cells in layer II/III of cat visual cortex, exhibiting electrophysiological features of WTA networks. The received signal is improved by selecting the strongest input and suppressing low-amplitude noise. Since the developmental rules we incorporate are entirely local, we have shown that WTA-like behaviour can self-organize and calibrate without the instructions of an external agent. Keywords: computational neuroscience Conference: 5th INCF Congress of Neuroinformatics, Munich, Germany, 10 Sep - 12 Sep, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Neuroinformatics Citation: Bauer R, Pfister S and Douglas R (2013). Simulating the Self-Organization of Winner-Take-All Networks. Front. Neuroinform. Conference Abstract: 5th INCF Congress of Neuroinformatics. doi: 10.3389/conf.fninf.2013.08.00010 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 21 Mar 2013; Published Online: 27 Nov 2013. * Correspondence: Dr. Roman Bauer, Institute of Neuroinformatics Zurich, unset, Switzerland, bauerr@ini.phys.ethz.ch Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Roman Bauer Sabina Pfister Rodney Douglas Google Roman Bauer Sabina Pfister Rodney Douglas Google Scholar Roman Bauer Sabina Pfister Rodney Douglas PubMed Roman Bauer Sabina Pfister Rodney Douglas Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.