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BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:69d6bbf4be50b
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260310T153000
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260310T170000
URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-theoretical-neuroscience/events/ctn-sem
 inar-chris-sims-rensselaer-polytechnic
LOCATION:DC - William G. Davis Computer Research Centre 200 University Aven
 ue West Waterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada
SUMMARY:CTN Seminar: Chris Sims Rensselaer Polytechnic
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:Room: DC1304\n\nTitle: Why Simplicity Enables Intelligence: Ef
 ficient Coding in Human\nLearning and Generalization\n\nAbstract:\n\nHuman
  intelligence depends critically on the ability to learn\nrepresentations 
 that generalize beyond past experience. While\nreinforcement learning theo
 ry formalizes how agents should act to\nmaximize reward\, it provides litt
 le guidance on how internal\nrepresentations should be structured to suppo
 rt generalization. In\nthis talk\, I propose that efficient coding provide
 s a unifying\nrepresentational principle. When agents are constrained to u
 se the\nsimplest representations compatible with reward maximization\, the
 y are\nforced to discover abstract structure in the environment and to\nse
 lectively encode features that matter for behaviour. I present a\ncomputat
 ional framework in which efficient coding augments the\nclassical reinforc
 ement learning objective\, leading to compact\ninternal state spaces that 
 support robust generalization. Behavioural\nexperiments show that this fra
 mework accounts for human generalization\npatterns that standard models s
 truggle to explain. I further\ndemonstrate that the same principle explain
 s long-standing\nregularities in perceptual generalization\, including the
  universal law\nof generalization. These results suggest that abstraction\
 ,\ngeneralization\, and perceptual similarity arise from a common\nnormati
 ve pressure to efficiently encode information under resource\nconstraints.
DTSTAMP:20260408T203500Z
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:69d6bbf4ca865
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251021T153000
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251021T163000
URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-theoretical-neuroscience/events/ctn-sem
 inar-patrick-shofer-dc-1304
LOCATION:DC - William G. Davis Computer Research Centre Room 1304 200 Unive
 rsity Avenue West Waterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada
SUMMARY:CTN Seminar Patrick Shöfer DC 1304
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Patrick Schöfer\,\n\nDepartment of Neuromorphic Infor
 mation Processing\n\nUniversity of Leipzig\n\nTitle: Boredom as Homeostasi
 s of Cognitive Resource Utilization using\nSpiking Neural Networks\n\nAbst
 ract: In this talk\, I will present our approach to modelling\nboredom as 
 a homeostatic mechanism that maintains an optimal level of\ncognitive enga
 gement. When engagement deviates from this “Goldilocks\nzone” due to u
 nder- or overstimulation\, the system dynamically\nadjusts neural activity
  to restore balance. Implemented as a control\nloop in a spiking neural ne
 twork\, the model monitors and regulates\nsimulated cognitive resource uti
 lization through excitation and\ninhibition.
DTSTAMP:20260408T203500Z
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:69d6bbf4cbd8c
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20251202T153000
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20251202T163000
URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-theoretical-neuroscience/events/ctn-sem
 inar-jonathan-michaels
LOCATION:DC - William G. Davis Computer Research Centre 200 University Aven
 ue West Waterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada
SUMMARY:CTN Seminar Jonathan A. Michaels
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:Location: DC 1304 \n\nTitle: Sensory expectations shape neural
  population dynamics in motor\ncircuits\n\nAbstract: The neural basis of m
 ovement preparation has been\nextensively studied during self-initiated ac
 tions where motor cortical\nactivity during preparation shows a lawful rel
 ationship to the\nparameters of the subsequent action. However\, movements
  are regularly\ntriggered or corrected based on sensory inputs caused by d
 isturbances\nto the body. Since such disturbances are often predictable an
 d since\npreparing for disturbances would make movements better\, we\nhypo
 thesized that expectations about sensory inputs also influence\npreparator
 y activity in motor circuits. Here we show that when humans\nand monkeys a
 re probabilistically cued about the direction of future\nmechanical pertur
 bations\, they incorporate sensory expectations into\ntheir movement prepa
 ration and improve their corrective responses.\nUsing high-density neural 
 recordings\, we establish that sensory\nexpectations are widespread across
  the brain\, including the motor\ncortical areas involved in preparing sel
 f-initiated actions. The\ngeometry of these preparatory signals in the neu
 ral population state\nis simple\, directly scaling with the probability of
  each perturbation\ndirection. After perturbation onset\, a condition-inde
 pendent signal\nshifts the neural state leading to rapid responses that in
 itially\nreflect sensory expectations. Based on neural networks coupled to
  a\nbiomechanical model of the arm\, we show that this neural geometry\nem
 erges only when sensory inputs signal that a perturbation has\noccurred be
 fore resolving the direction of the perturbation. Thus\,\njust as preparat
 ory activity sets the stage for self-initiated\nmovement\, it also config
 ures motor circuits to respond efficiently to\nsensory inputs.
DTSTAMP:20260408T203500Z
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:69d6bbf4ccf9c
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250610T093000
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250610T103000
URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-theoretical-neuroscience/events/william
 -lytton-suny-downstate-applied-math-seminar
LOCATION:MC - Mathematics & Computer Building 200 University Avenue West Ro
 om 5501 (look for Colloquium Rooms) Waterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada
SUMMARY:William Lytton SUNY Downstate (Applied Math Seminar)
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Prof. William Lytton\, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences\
 nUniversity\n\nTitle: Neurons and synapses working together happily in bra
 in health\;\nnot so happily in brain disease\n\nAbstract: At first approxi
 mation\, we currently think of the brain as a\nset of neurons as nodes con
 nected by directed edges\, akin to the\nmathematical description of an Erd
 ős–Rényi graph model. It is now\ntime to redirect attention on the ind
 ividual neurons\, the massive\ncomplex entities that are often a locus of 
 disease progression and may\nalso be an additional locus of computation. 
  I will focus on the\nrole of the cortical corticospinal cell in Parkinso
 n's disease (PD)\nand in migraine/ischemia. In both cases a class of neur
 on becomes\ndamaged as an effect of disease: the effect becomes a site for
  the\nburgeoning disorder.\n\nMore generally\, I wish to refocus on cell p
 hysiology as a basis of\nbrain function. This will help us to better expla
 in how cell pathology\nproduces dysfunction in neurodegenerative disorders
  such as\nAlzheimer's\, Parkinson's\, and mild cognitive impairment. The r
 oles\nplayed by particular neuron types in performing the computations tha
 t\nunderlie brain function will provide a new Neuron-based Computational\n
 Theory (NCT) to complement and augment the current dominant\nSynapse-based
  Computational Theory (SCT)\, which gave us\nHebbian/Hopfieldian cell asse
 mblies reified in modern\nlarge-language models (LLMs).
DTSTAMP:20260408T203500Z
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:69d6bbf4ce154
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20250331T110000
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20250331T120000
URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-theoretical-neuroscience/events/mark-re
 imers-centre-theoretical-neuroscience-seminar
LOCATION:E5 - Engineering 5 200 University Avenue West Room 2004 Waterloo O
 N N2L 3G1 Canada
SUMMARY:Mark Reimers Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience Seminar
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:Mark Reimers\, Michigan State (https://iq.msu.edu/mark-reimers/
 )\n\nLocation: E5 2004\n\nTitle: A new and inexpensive method for high-re
 solution imaging of\nneural activity across the cortex of small animals\n\
 nAbstract: In this talk I will introduce a new system for imaging the\nac
 tivity of several thousand labelled neurons distributed sparsely\nacross t
 he dorsal cortex of a mouse at high speed. The key is to use\nextensive co
 mputation to make up for the deficits of simple imaging\nsystems. I will d
 escribe the ideas behind our system and the\ntechnology that we're using t
 o implement these ideas\, at a cost of\nunder $50\,000. I will describe so
 me of the technical issues we've\naddressed\, and issues that we’re stil
 l working on. A natural\nquestion to ask is how much of the complex cortic
 al activity can be\ninferred by recording from a small fraction of neurons
  in each area. I\nwill present evidence from large-scale Zebrafish and mou
 se brain\nrecordings to suggest that a surprisingly small fraction of labe
 lled\nneurons may be sufficient to represent most of the population activi
 ty\nin the upper layers of cortex.
DTSTAMP:20260408T203500Z
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:69d6bbf4cf3ad
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20230425T143000
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20230425T143000
URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-theoretical-neuroscience/events/ctn-sem
 inar-jeff-orchard-cognition-using-spiking-phasor
SUMMARY:CTN Seminar: Jeff Orchard - Cognition using Spiking-Phasor Neurons
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:April 25 14:30 *In Person*\n\nSpeaker: Jeff Orchard [http://cs.
 uwaterloo.ca/~jorchard] (CS\,\nWaterloo)\n\nTitle: Cognition using Spiking
 -Phasor Neurons
DTSTAMP:20260408T203500Z
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:69d6bbf4d0188
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20211116T143000
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20211116T143000
URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-theoretical-neuroscience/events/ctn-sem
 inar-lyle-muller-western
SUMMARY:CTN Seminar: Lyle Muller (Western)
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:[A tree reflected in water. ] Title: Traveling waves in cortex:
 \nspatiotemporal dynamics shape perceptual and cognitive processes\n\nAbst
 ract:
DTSTAMP:20260408T203500Z
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:69d6bbf4d5269
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20200406T083000
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20200406T083000
URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-theoretical-neuroscience/events/cancell
 ed-14th-annual-waterloo-brain-day
LOCATION:E7 - Engineering 7 200 University Ave West Waterloo ON N2L 3G1 Can
 ada
SUMMARY:CANCELLED - The 14th Annual Waterloo Brain Day
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:CANCELLED - THE 14TH ANNUAL WATERLOO BRAIN DAY - APRIL 6\, 2020
 \n\n [side profile of a brain with people standing on top of it] The brain
 \nis a horrendously complex and poorly understood system that poses both\n
 an immense challenge - and possibly rich rewards - to neuroscientists\,\np
 sychologists\, philosophers\, and computer scientists.
DTSTAMP:20260408T203500Z
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:69d6bbf4d7dd8
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20190514T153000
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20190514T153000
URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-theoretical-neuroscience/events/ctn-sem
 inar-javier-f-medina-baylor-college-medicine
LOCATION:E5 - Engineering 5 200 University Avenue West Room 6111 Waterloo O
 N N2L 3G1 Canada
SUMMARY:CTN Seminar: Javier F Medina\, Baylor College of Medicine
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:A NEW NETWORK ARCHITECTURE FOR SUPERVISED LEARNING IN THE CEREB
 ELLUM \n\nJavier F Medina\, Baylor College of Medicine
DTSTAMP:20260408T203500Z
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:69d6bbf4d9045
DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20190408T090000
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20190408T160000
URL:https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-theoretical-neuroscience/events/april-2
 019-waterloo-brain-day
LOCATION:Canada
SUMMARY:April 2019 - Waterloo Brain Day
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:THE 13TH ANNUAL WATERLOO BRAIN DAY\n\n [side profile of a brain
  with people standing on top of it] The brain\nis a horrendously complex a
 nd poorly understood system that poses both\nan immense challenge - and po
 ssibly rich rewards - to neuroscientists\,\npsychologists\, philosophers\,
  and computer scientists.
DTSTAMP:20260408T203500Z
END:VEVENT
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