INRC Forum: Bruno Olshausen

Computing with Dynamics

Abstract: Is the brain a computer? Or is it a dynamical system? While computation serves as a useful metaphor for cognitive processes, as we delve into the neuroanatomical circuits and physiological properties of brains we encounter structures and phenomena that seem foreign and unfamiliar in terms of standard computing models. Highly recurrent circuits with massive interconnectivity, attractor dynamics, oscillations, traveling waves, and active sensing are all hallmarks of biological neural systems. How do we make sense of these things in terms of “computation?” Or are we working with the wrong metaphor? Here I shall present a number of recent findings from neuroscience that challenge us to think in new ways about the underlying physical processes governing perception and cognition.

Bio: Bruno OIshausen is Professor of Neuroscience and Optometry at the University of California, Berkeley. He also serves as Director of the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, an interdisciplinary research group focusing on mathematical and computational models of brain function. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Computation and Neural Systems from the California Institute of Technology. Prior to Berkeley he was a member of the Departments of Psychology and Neurobiology, Physiology & Behavior at UC Davis. During postdoctoral work with David Field at Cornell he developed the sparse coding model of visual cortex which provides a linking principle between natural scene statistics and the response properties of visual neurons. Olshausen’s current research aims to understand the information processing strategies employed by the brain for doing tasks such as object recognition and scene analysis. This work seeks not only to advance our understanding of the brain, but also to discover new algorithms for scene analysis based on how brains work.

For the meeting link, see the full INRC Forum Spring 2023 Schedule (accessible only to INRC Affiliates and Fully Engaged Members).