CTN Seminar: Richard Naud (UOttawa)

Title: Burstprop: a mechanistic theory for the orchestration of learning in cortex

Abstract:
Synaptic plasticity is believed to be a key physiological mechanism for learning. It is well established that it depends on pre- and postsynaptic activity. However, models that rely solely on pre- and postsynaptic activity for synaptic changes have, so far, not been able to account for learning complex tasks that demand credit assignment in hierarchical networks. Burstprop is a theory that exploit the fact that synaptic plasticity is regulated by high-frequency bursts of spikes, it allows pyramidal neurons higher in a hierarchical circuit to coordinate the plasticity of lower-level connections. Using simulations and mathematical analyses, we have demonstrated that, when paired with short-term synaptic dynamics, regenerative activity in the apical dendrites and synaptic plasticity in feedback pathways, a burst-dependent learning rule can solve challenging tasks that require deep network architectures. To end, I will provide a discussion on the biological plausibility of burstprop as a theory for the coordination of synaptic plasticity
in the brain.

Speaker's Website: http://www.neurodynamic.uottawa.ca/neuralcoding/index.html