by Melissa Rohman, Northwestern University Spike threshold heterogeneity affects the function generation properties of spiking neural networks. (A) Reservoir computing architecture used for function generation. A pulse is fed into a recurrent neural network and a linear readout is trained to minimize the mean squared error between a target time-dependent function and a network output obtained...
Tag: <span>information processing</span>
Trains in the brain — Scientists uncover switching system used in information processing and memory
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY IMAGE: THIS IMAGE SUPERIMPOSES HIPPOCAMPAL LOCAL FIELD POTENTIALS ON RAILWAY TRACKS CONTROLLED BY A SWITCH THAT IS OVERLAID BY A DENTATE SPIKE COLORED YELLOW. RAILWAY TRACKS PROVIDE DIFFERENT PATHWAYS TO DISTINCT DESTINATIONS, LIKE DIFFERENT HIPPOCAMPAL INFORMATION PROCESSING MODES CAN ENABLE DISTINCTIVE MEMORY ENCODING AND RECOLLECTION INFORMATION PROCESSING FUNCTIONS. CREDIT: ANDRÉ FENTON, NEW...
Myelin optimizes information processing in the brain
by Max Planck Society Oligodendrocytes wrap around the axon of a nerve cell. In this way, they form an electrical insulation layer around the axon and thus increase the conduction speed. The oligodendrocytes also supply the neuron with energy. In a conversation, we can easily understand and distinguish individual words. In the brain, the temporal structure...
People with increased risk of Alzheimer’s have deficits in navigating
by Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum Animals and humans have the ability to follow their own position in space through self-motion cues, even in the absence of any other sensory information. “If you get up at night and want to find your way to the bathroom in the dark, you need—in addition to knowing the arrangement of your own...
COVID-19 and mRNA Vaccines—First Large Test for a New Approach
n January 10, Chinese researchers posted the novel coronavirus’ RNA sequence on a preprint server. Immediately, scientists who study genetic vaccines turned their efforts to the emerging pathogen that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). They knew that rapid response genetic platforms could shave precious weeks to months off development, crucial during a pandemic.\ They were...
Study examines the side effects of Alzheimer’s disease dementia drugs
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 3 2020 In a first of its kind study, a University of Houston researcher is examining two common drugs used for dementia in patients with Alzheimer’s disease to determine the extent to which they don’t mix well together and cause a cascading event of side effects, prompting the need for...
Scientists say Hong Kong man got coronavirus a second time
by Marilynn Marchione This electron microscope image made available and color-enhanced by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Integrated Research Facility in Fort Detrick, Md., shows Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, orange, isolated from a patient. University of Hong Kong scientists claim to have the first evidence of someone being reinfected with the...
Vaccine against grass pollen allergy as potential treatment for chronic hepatitis B
by Johannes Angerer, Medical University of Vienna Chronic hepatitis B infections represent a global health problem that could hitherto only be treated by chemotherapy. A team of researchers led by Rudolf Valenta from MedUni Vienna’s Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology has now demonstrated that a protein contained in the BM32 vaccine against grass pollen...
Antibiotics associated with increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease
Antibiotics use, particularly antibiotics with a greater spectrum of microbial coverage, may be associated with an increased risk of new-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and its subtypes ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. That is according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Harvard Medical School in the U.S., published in the...
Researchers study brain activity in stages of alertness at the neuronal level
by Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Visual information detected in the eye, is passed to the visual thalamus – a complex sub-cortical structure that regulates information transmission from the sensory organs to sensory areas of the cortex – and on to the primary visual cortex. Researchers know that layer 6, the deepest cortical layer,...