ICTP COLLOQUIUM -TOMORROW

[Infopoint]

ICTP COLLOQUIUM



14:30, Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Euler Lecture Hall, Leonardo Building


Professor Vijay Balasubramanian
University of Pennsylvania

How smart can you get?   Computational efficiency in neural  circuits



Abstract:  The human brain weighs about 1.5 kilograms, and is made up of
100 billion neurons intricately connected via a network so dense that
every cubic millimeter of the brain contains 4 kilometers of wire. The
electrical activity of this incredibly complex network of neurons makes up
human thought, and allows us to move, perceive, talk, plan, love, and do
physics, all with a subtlety and precision that escapes the most powerful
computers. And to do all this the brain uses only as much power as a
refrigerator light bulb! I will discuss the strategies employed by neural
circuits (e.g. specialization of function) to efficiently organize the use
of power, space and other resources. Using the example of the circuits in
the retina, I will argue that efficiency of computation can give a "theory
of design" explaining key aspects of the observed  architecture.  Finally
I will argue that there is a law of diminishing returns on these
strategies. This law affects our ability to get "smarter" by evolving to
have bigger brains (more neurons), using more energy (more active
neurons), having more cleverly organized circuits, or even attaching
plug-in external modules that could help the brain to do difficult things
like multiplication.