QLS Seminar - Friday, 13 February at 11h00 "Memory Capacity, Novelty Encoding, and Continual Learning in Biologically Plausible Neural Networks" by Kaining Zhang

[Quantitative Life Sciences]

Dear All,

On Friday, 13 February at 11:00 CET,  Kaining ZHANG (QLS Section, ICTP) 
will give a seminar titled:

*"Memory Capacity, Novelty Encoding, and Continual Learning in 
Biologically Plausible Neural Networks"

*Abstract:

I will present two projects and briefly discuss my interest in continual 
learning.

The first project is a theoretical study of memory capacity in 
heterogeneous neural networks. We generalize classical Hopfield-model 
results to networks with heterogeneous neuron coding levels and 
arbitrary connectivity, deriving an analytical expression for maximal 
memory capacity. Although heterogeneity typically reduces capacity, we 
show that capacity can be preserved when coding levels and in-degree are 
positively correlated. This principle holds across multiple biologically 
relevant settings and can be experimentally tested. In addition, in a 
two-layer network representing the hippocampal CA3–DG circuit, we find 
that a quasi-indexing encoding scheme in the DG maximizes capacity, 
extending the hippocampal index theory of memory.

The second project is an experimental study of how the basal forebrain 
encodes salience and novelty. We identify a population of basal 
forebrain neurons that exhibit phasic bursting responses to surprising 
external events, including unexpected rewards, novel stimuli, and 
sequence violations. These neurons do not encode reward prediction 
errors, but instead signal surprise and salience, suggesting a mechanism 
by which the basal forebrain primes cortical circuits for enhanced 
processing of important information.

Indico: https://indico.ictp.it/event/11260/

The seminar will take place in the Common Area, 2nd floor, old SISSA 
building (Via Beirut, 2).
You are all most welcome to attend!

Best regards,

Erica

Erica Sarnataro
Group Secretary
Quantitative Life Sciences
The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
Trieste,  Italy
Tel. +39-040-22404623 (NEW PHONE NUMBER)
www.ictp.it/research/qls.aspx
e-mail:qls at ictp.it