Multimodal Circuits Research Articles

Nonlinear fusion is optimal for a wide class of multisensory tasks.

Animals continuously detect information via multiple sensory channels, like vision and hearing, and integrate these signals to realise faster and more accurate decisions; a fundamental neural computation known as multisensory integration. A widespread view of this process is that multimodal neurons linearly fuse information across sensory channels. However, does linear fusion generalise beyond the classical tasks used to explore multisensory integration? Here, we develop novel multisensory tasks, which focus on the underlying statistical relationships between channels, and deploy models at three levels of abstraction: from probabilistic ideal observers to artificial and spiking neural networks. Using these models, we demonstrate that when the information provided by different channels is not independent, linear fusion performs sub-optimally and even fails in extreme cases. This leads us to propose a simple nonlinear algorithm for multisensory integration which is compatible with our current knowledge of multimodal circuits, excels in naturalistic settings and is optimal for a wide class of multisensory tasks. Thus, our work emphasises the role of nonlinear fusion in multisensory integration, and provides testable hypotheses for the field to explore at multiple levels: from single neurons to behaviour.

ЛОГІСТИЧНИЙ ПІДХІД ДО ВИЗНАЧЕННЯ МУЛЬТИМОДАЛЬНИХ СХЕМ ДОСТАВКИ ТОВАРІВ

Providing a proper level of logistics service is possible only with the constant improvement of the organization of multimodal transportation, which in turn is impossible without the use of high information technologies. Search for new markets and organization of multimodal transportation from cargo delivery to the consumer will increase the competitiveness of products and positively affect the financial condition of the enterprise. Perspective routes for the delivery of container cargoes from China to Europe are currently the corridors of the «silk path», which include land transportation of cargoes in container trains in Central Asia and the intersection of the Caspian and Black Seas by railway feres. In this regard, the development of technological solutions of multimodal transportation of products in the direction of Asia-Europe is relevant. The purpose of this article is to study theoretical and practical aspects, substantiation of practical recommendations for the logistics of multimodal transportation in global supply chains. For the implementation of economically grounded measures relating to the development of multimodal cargo delivery technologies, a comprehensive analytical study was conducted, regarding ways of organizing multimodal transportation, using universal containers, which allow to reduce the duration of loading and unloading works in transplant places and prevent losses and damage to the cargo in the process. Transportation and performance of freight operations. Many different job options for transportation routes allow professionals to make optimal choice. It is possible to evaluate routes by a set of basic criteria and evaluating their impact on the organization of logistics delivery route to China Europe. An analysis of international supplies of goods showed that one of the most effective ways of organizing international transportation is the use of multimodal delivery technologies that allow the most fully used advantage of various modes of transport on separate areas of the logistics chain. A set of basic criteria is proposed, which allows you to evaluate the overall delivery cost of transport, length of the route and the timing of delivery of goods using multimodal circuits. The calculation of total costs is carried out in the case of average tariffs for transportation, terminal processing, customs clearance. The delivery time is calculated taking into account the standards of transportation and loading and unloading works. The effectiveness of interaction in multimodal transportation depends on the readiness of partners to co-operation, based on understanding of its role in the supply chain.

Multimodal Neural Interface Circuits for Diverse Interaction With Neuronal Cell Population in Human Brain

This brief presents multimodal neural interface circuits for diverse interaction with neuronal cell populations in the human brain. The next-generation neural interface system based on advanced circuits that can perform neural recording and stimulation in multiple modalities is indispensable to advance neuroscience and neurotechnology. Seven key circuit topologies used for interfacing with neural networks are reviewed: 1) electrical recording circuits for monitoring action potentials and local field potentials, 2) electrical stimulation circuits delivering electric charges to neuronal cells, 3) chemical recording circuits for monitoring neurotransmitters, 4) impedance measurement and 5) optical imaging circuits to characterize cell distributions and cellular morphologies, 6) optogenetics-based neural recording circuits and 7) neural stimulation circuits for conducting a cell-type-specific study of heterogeneous cell populations.

Time to Face Language: Embodied Mechanisms Underpin the Inception of Face-Related Meanings in the Human Brain.

In construing meaning, the brain recruits multimodal (conceptual) systems and embodied (modality-specific) mechanisms. Yet, no consensus exists on how crucial the latter are for the inception of semantic distinctions. To address this issue, we combined electroencephalographic (EEG) and intracranial EEG (iEEG) to examine when nouns denoting facial body parts (FBPs) and nonFBPs are discriminated in face-processing and multimodal networks. First, FBP words increased N170 amplitude (a hallmark of early facial processing). Second, they triggered fast (~100 ms) activity boosts within the face-processing network, alongside later (~275 ms) effects in multimodal circuits. Third, iEEG recordings from face-processing hubs allowed decoding ~80% of items before 200 ms, while classification based on multimodal-network activity only surpassed ~70% after 250 ms. Finally, EEG and iEEG connectivity between both networks proved greater in early (0–200 ms) than later (200–400 ms) windows. Collectively, our findings indicate that, at least for some lexico-semantic categories, meaning is construed through fast reenactments of modality-specific experience.

Parallel Multimodal Circuits Control an Innate Foraging Behavior

Foraging strategies emerge from genetically encoded programs that are similar across animal species. Here, we examine circuits that control a conserved foraging state, local search behavior after food removal, in Caenorhabditis elegans. We show that local search is triggered by two parallel groups of chemosensory and mechanosensory glutamatergic neurons that detect food-related cues. Each group of sensory neurons suppresses distinct integrating neurons through a G protein-coupled metabotropic glutamate receptor, MGL-1, to release local search. The chemosensory and mechanosensory modules are separate and redundant; glutamate release from either module can drive the full behavior. A transition from local search to global search over several minutes after food removal is associated with two changes in circuit function. First, the spontaneous activity of sensory neurons falls. Second, the motor pattern generator for local search becomes less responsive to sensory input. This multimodal, distributed short-term food memory provides robust control of an innate behavior.

Robust design of multimodal shunt circuits for vibration attenuation of composite structures

Composite materials are widely used in the development of many engineering products, especially in aerospace and automotive structures. It is due to their high strength/weight ratio and the possibility of obtaining the performance requirements of components. However, the increasing high-speed and lightweight composite structures subjected to vibrations, the interest in achieving vibration attenuation becomes of capital importance as extensive vibrations can reduce structural life and contribute to mechanical failure. Thus, the use of shunted piezoceramics has received major attention, as it is well adapted for space and automotive applications. The contribution intended here is the proposition of a robust optimisation strategy of multimode shunt circuits to increase their efficiency and robustness when uncertainties are presented. The maximum entropy principle is used to model the uncertainties and vulnerabilities are formulated to be optimised with the cost functions. Numerical applications are presented and the features and capabilities of the methodology are highlighted.

A Comprehensive Study of the RL Series Resonant Shunted Piezoelectric: A Feedback Controls Perspective

The resonant shunted piezoelectric has been shown a viable solution for stable vibration control. Two main implementations of the single mode shunt circuit have been developed; the original with a series connection of the resistive and inductive element forming the shunt, and the second, a parallel interconnection, which claimed marginal tuning improvements. More recently, multimodal shunting circuits have been developed where a gain in achievable bandwidth may be viewed as offset by the difficulty in properly tuning. In this paper, the original series shunt formulation is presented in unique detail. Here, the electromechanical analogy is developed, along with a unique technique for accurately tuning the shunt circuit. Experimental results are presented to the theoretical foundations.