Evolving to be flexible - optimizing task-dependent information processing in the visual system

变得灵活——优化视觉系统中任务相关的信息处理

• 批准号: 429934733
• 负责人: Dr. Udo A. Ernst
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Abteilung Theoretische Neurobiologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Priority Programmes
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/429934733?language=en
• 关键词: Evolving; flexible; optimizing; task; dependent

Highly evolved brains typically develop in complex environments that provide ecological niches for species with a wide range of cognitive abilities and behaviours. The high complexity of the environment, as well as the need to function consistently and robustly in the face of high environmental variability, places a variety of demands on neural processing. The optimisation of specialised neural pathways and networks for each possible task must quickly have reached a limit due to the available brain mass alone. An evolutionary principle and way out of the dilemma would be the development of ever greater flexibility in reconfiguring existing networks into functionally varying circuits. This implies a co-evolution of function and flexibility. Our project goal is to investigate the hypothesis that neural systems continuously optimise their ability to operate flexibly while processing the current task robustly against random variability and irrelevant competing stimuli in sensory signals. Since information processing in the brain is realized by the interaction of different network structures, the coordination of flexibility must also be done in parallel and a task must be decomposed into appropriate control signals for the individual players. Which network configurations are optimal for flexible processing, and how do they arise under given physiological constraints? Do multiple solutions exist for given flexibility problems, and can these explain the variability observed in the experiment? What is the functional significance of routing mechanisms based on the synchronisation of neuronal oscillations compared to mechanisms based on neuronal "avalanches" of spontaneous synchronisation - and what is the possible evolutionary relationship between them? To answer these fundamental questions, we will study optimisation of flexibility in theory and experiment with a focus on the visual system. Theoretical approaches will formally describe central processing aspects such as parallel coordination and the evolution of flexible circuits, considering co-evolution of flexibility and function as an optimisation problem with constraints. Modelling and experimentation will investigate selective attention as a central aspect of flexibility in the visual system, involving task-dependent coordination of multiple visual areas. Our experiments will characterise and compare potential mechanisms of neural flexibility and their robustness to sensory variability. Biophysically realistic modelling will accompany the experiments to critically test formal theories and identify mechanisms of flexibility and optimisation, as well as their control and coordination.

高度进化的大脑通常在复杂的环境中发育，这些环境为具有广泛认知能力和行为的物种提供了生态位。环境的高度复杂性，以及在面对高环境变化时保持一致和稳健运行的需要，对神经处理提出了各种要求。仅由于可用的大脑质量，针对每个可能任务的专门神经通路和网络的优化肯定很快就达到了极限。摆脱困境的一个进化原则和出路是开发更大的灵活性，将现有网络重新配置为功能多样的电路。这意味着功能和灵活性的共同进化。我们的项目目标是研究这样的假设：神经系统不断优化其灵活操作的能力，同时针对感觉信号中的随机变化和不相关的竞争刺激稳健地处理当前任务。由于大脑中的信息处理是通过不同网络结构的相互作用来实现的，因此灵活性的协调也必须并行完成，并且任务必须分解为各个参与者的适当的控制信号。哪些网络配置最适合灵活处理，以及它们在给定的生理限制下是如何出现的？对于给定的灵活性问题是否存在多种解决方案，这些解决方案可以解释实验中观察到的变异性吗？与基于自发同步的神经元“雪崩”的机制相比，基于神经元振荡同步的路由机制的功能意义是什么？它们之间可能的进化关系是什么？为了回答这些基本问题，我们将从理论和实验上研究灵活性的优化，重点关注视觉系统。理论方法将正式描述中央处理方面，例如并行协调和柔性电路的演化，将灵活性和功能的共同演化视为具有约束的优化问题。建模和实验将研究选择性注意作为视觉系统灵活性的核心方面，涉及多个视觉区域的任务依赖性协调。我们的实验将描述和比较神经灵活性的潜在机制及其对感觉变异的鲁棒性。生物物理真实建模将伴随实验来严格测试形式理论并确定灵活性和优化机制及其控制和协调。