The symposium features speakers from across Imperial, and a keynote speech by Professor Matteo Carandini, UCL. There will also be a poster competition for PhD students and a networking reception.
For the full programme and registration details, please visit the network website.
Cracking the population code in visual cortex
Professor Matteo Carandini
16.00 – 17.00
The primary visual cortex codes fundamental attributes of visual stimuli through the coordinated activity of populations of neurons.
Does this code follow simple mathematical rules? We addressed this question through multielectrode arrays and imaging of voltage-sensitive dyes. We found that the cortex adopts a very simple basic coding scheme, with a stereotyped response that is simply applied over and over to different groups of neurons depending on the stimulus attributes. Responses to subsequent stimuli simply sum to each other, thus forming a representation that is easily decoded.
This basic linear representation, however, is only the scaffolding for more complex, nonlinear operations that make the cortex extremely adaptive to variations in stimulus configuration and recent history.
We have reasonable expectation that the rules that we have uncovered are not specific to primary visual cortex but are rather general rules of operation of sensory cortex.