Dynamics of Cortical Columnar Organization: Biological and Computational Approaches

9421380西蒙斯大脑中被称为“大脑皮层”的区域参与认知功能，如学习、识别物体和执行熟练的动作。它的功能部分是由数十亿个大脑皮层神经细胞相互连接的方式决定的。一些大脑皮层细胞被组织成工作簇，称为“柱”。这笔拨款将允许西蒙斯博士领导的一个团队研究大脑皮层柱如何计算从触摸感受器进入大脑皮层的信息。柱的分析将首先涉及柱内细胞之间的电信号的生理学研究，这些结果将通过构建柱电路的数学模型来理解。这一结果对于理解大脑如何构建对外部世界的灵活表征将是重要的。这可能会提高我们设计智能系统的能力，这些系统可以执行一些通常在大脑皮层进行的操作。***

9421380 Simons The region of the brain called the 'cerebral cortex' is involved in cognitive functions such as learning, recognizing objects, and performing skilled movements. It's function is determined, in part, by the way in which billions of cortical nerve cells are interconnected. Some cortical cells are organized into working clusters called 'columns'. This grant will allow a team headed by Dr. Simons to study how cortical columns make computations about information coming to the cortex from touch receptors. The analysis of the columns will first involve physiological studies of electrical signaling among cells within columns, and these results will be understood by constructing mathematical models of the column circuitry. The results will be important for understanding how the brain constructs flexible representations of the external world. This is likely to advance our ability to design intelligent systems that can perform some of the operations that are normally performed in the cerebral cortex. ***