10 October 2019 Lecture responses

Why doesn’t your brain get full?

Because the brain and cognitive 'tiredness' is about a depeltion

and lack of resources required to learn (self-control, attention),
rather than a 'filling up' of knowledge
it's mostly empty
limited cognitive capacity
huge capacity
We are brain dead
neurons

information is stored by relating it to exisit information, this

stores info as a network (more efficient) ?

the brain doesn’t “fill up” the more we learn the more complex
out neural networks are which increases learning
The brain's ability to store information is dependent on patterns
of activity rather than the number of neurons/structures
available

computer brain

computer brain
1. Can do millions of arithmetic 1. Can’t even do ten arithmetic
operations in a second operations a second

2. Can easily store and instantly 2. Has trouble memorizing

access thousands of books even one book

3. Can’t even write trashy novels 3. Can write good novels

4. Can barely walk down stairs 4. Can walk, hop, jump

5. Had bad visual recognition, 5. Can recognize objects and

until imitating connectionist people
networks (still easily fooled)

“the [visual] recognition competence of a two-year-old human child remains

 From Alex’s PSYC2010 lecture

“ASIMO feel down”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKU7omqjvn8

This kind of thing is not happening inside

your laptop or phone.

giraffe birth. open in quicktime Digital calculations and serial instructions,

not intricate patterns of oscillations,
exquisitely timed10and responsive to
days 4
environment. later..
X

• Perception: historically a total fail for computers

– Massively parallel processing used by animals
– Last 20 years, massively parallel networks (“deep
learning in convolutional networks”) have yielded
amazing success in object recognition
– (Still fail at other aspects of perception)

• Movement:
– Requires perception as well as motor aspects
– Oscillations and dynamic interactions among units
activated in parallel are how humans do it.
– Robots today move slowly in uncontrolled environments.
We’re still missing something about how we do it? 5
 Alex’s lectures Testmyb

Robot lawn mower

“The Automower remains in
• Brains and computing (26 Sep and 10 Oct) bounds by
– Neural networks following/reading/reacting to a
guide wire that surrounds the area
– Metaphors and computational modeling to be cut.”
– How computers vs. brains do their thing

• Representing space. Maps, coordinate systems

(14 and 17 October)
– For action
• Role of sensory signals versus internal signals http://m
– For awareness
Room
Quick
and sp
brain i

Today and Thursday

Representing space. Maps, coordinate systems
For action
Role of sensory signals versus internal signals
For awareness
Ken Conley/ W

Readings: http://rpubs.com/alexHolcombe/read3014 7

Coming later
Justin Harris
• Pre‐motor Cortex, Supplementary motor cortex, Cerebellum:
• control and fine-tuning of movement
• Hippocampus and spatial navigation
• Place cells Email
• Allocentric receptive field Alex.h
• Place cells provide a mental map of space used to navigate. http://ww
• Spatial (and temporal) context is fundamentally important for many types of learning &
memory (episodic, working memory)

Irina (episodic memory):

 Maps and modules lecture

Email
Alex.h
http://ww

Irina (episodic memory):

Representing space. Maps, coordinate systems

For action
Role of sensory signals versus internal signals
For awareness

ct sensory sig nals to movement

•Computational Need to conne
At this level we describe and specify the problems we are faced
with in a generic manner, but do not say how these problems are
to be solved. Do we aim to learn a function? Do we wish to
estimate uncertainty? •Implementational
The physical substrate or
•Algorithmic mechanism, and its organisation,
This level forms a bridge between the computational and in which computation is
implementational levels, describing how the identified performed. This could be
computational problems can be solved. It is here that Bayesian and biological in the case of neurons
machine learning methods find their place. and synapses, or in silicon using
transistors, etc.

Irina (episodic memory): Neuroscience

 Dyspraxia after a stroke video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44fGSw7QFLc

Mysterious dyspraxia video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIVgrkVEGM4

What’s wrong?
• Something with muscles?
• With the ability to move the arm? Email
• With representation of visually-sensed locations? Alex.h
http://ww
• With plan for how to get hand to a visual location?
A lot of processes need to be working for a successful reach. 10

Irina (episodic memory):

Dyspraxia after a stroke video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44fGSw7QFLc

Mysterious dyspraxia video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIVgrkVEGM4

What’s wrong?
• Something with muscles?
• With the ability to move the arm? Email
• With representation of visually-sensed locations? Alex.h
http://ww
• With plan for how to get hand to a visual location?
A lot of processes need to be working for a successful reach. 11

Irina (episodic memory):

 LEARNING OUTCOMES
– What maps, coordinate systems are needed for
» Why more than one coordinate system needed in the brain
– How to transform between coordinate systems
Ken Conle
– Role of sensory signals versus internal signals
» Knowing your eyes’ position. Why and how

– Spatial layout
– Parietal processing
Email
– Coordinate systems for cognition and object Alex.h
http://ww
recognition
12

Coordinate frame
Representing space

hippocampus

“Maps” in brain
• Representation of where things are.
• Always relative to something
• 33 55’ S, 151 17’ E
• if on Manning Rd facing Manning Bar, turn
around

13
 Coordinate frame
Representing space: Coordinate systems

Allocentric Egocentric
where things are relative to you
where things are relative to an external
reference (here, the North pole)

14

Coordinate frame
Representing space Coordinate frames

“Maps” in brain
• Representation of where things are.
• Always relative to something
• 33 55’ S, 151 17’ E
• if on Manning Rd facing Manning Bar, turn
around

Different coordinate frames for different purposes

To control action- which direction to:

1. Look
2. Walk
3. Reach / point Kandyjaxx, Flickr

Different coordinate frames for different body parts

15
 Related explanation at:
Look at the cube http://www.tutis.ca/Senses/index.htm
(See reading list)

ht
s ig
of
e
L in
15º

•Move eyes 15º left

•How do you know?

•Retinotopic map!
e

•Angle specified by which

ey

neurons stimulated by
cube 16

Walk to the cube

Clockwise angles +
Anticlockwise angles -

-30º

•Rotate body -30 deg, and walk

•How do you know?

e
ey

body

17
Walk to the cube: retinal coordinates-> body coordinates
from retina center to object

?
-30º retino-centric direction= 15
15º

-45º + eyes relative to head 0º

head-centric direction 15º

+ head relative to body = -45º

body-centric direction -30

e
ey

body

18

Point at cube: retinal coordinates -> hand coordinates

-22
8º

-30º retinal location = 15

15º

-45º + eyes relative to head 0º

head-centric direction 15º

+ head relative to body = -45º

body-centric direction -30

body

body

+ hand relative to body = 8º

hand-centric direction = -22 19

 Point at cube: retinal coordinates -> hand coordinates

-22
8º

-30º retinal location = 15

15º

-45º + eyes relative to head 0º

head-centric direction 15º

+ head relative to body = -45º

body-centric direction -30

body

body

+ body relative to hand = 8º

hand-centric direction = -22 20

Representing space
• Need different coordinate
frames for different actions
– Eye-centered (V1, V2, V4, )
– Body-centered
(somatosensory cortices)
– Head/ear-centered?
– Hand-centered?

• Maps specify coordinates of

everything in a particular
coordinate frame

•Full map not found in brain for hand-relative and torso-relative coordinates.
•Location calculated on-the-fly each time object is attended?
21
 Dorsal pathway

Various parietal areas,

Not retinotopic

22

Updating maps
• Locations of things in each
map change, often rapidly retinal location = 15

+ eyes relative to head 0º

head-centric direction 15º

+ head relative to body = -45º

body-centric direction -30

+ body relative to hand = 8º

hand-centric direction = -22

•Full map not been found in brain for hand-relative and torso-relative coordinates.
•Location calculated on-the-fly each time object is attended?
23
•What brain areas?
 Large (cortical motion area)
Transient Parietal
Colour-blind where/how V3 MT MST
areas
Magnocellular DORSAL
LGN V1 V2
Parvocellular
VENTRAL

eye-movement
Small
what (cerebellum) PF

control
Sustained
Colour-sensitive
V4 …
THALAMUS (brainstem)
FFA MN

CORTEX
Koniocellular

RETINA

Carlson
p.206

where/how
vs.
what
pathways 24

Updating maps
Another explanation at:
http://www.tutis.ca/Senses/index.htm
Click on “muscle senses”
animated HTML, then at bottom
click on blue “Transformations”

Next part:
Knowing eye angle relative to head

25
Gaze angle (eye position) needed for:
•Calculating direction for pointing, walking, etc.
•Resolving whether, when retinal motion detected, did eyes move
or objects move?

27

Gaze angle (eye position) needed for:

•Calculating direction for pointing, walking, etc.
•Resolving whether, when retinal motion detected, did eyes move
or objects move?
•Possibilities
•Direct sensing of eye position (via proprioceptive sensation)
•Remembering where you told your eyes to move? (aka
“efference copy”)

• Finger-in-the-eye demo
– Has a problem!
– Brindley & Merton (1960)
• the lateral or medial rectus muscle was seized through
the conjunctiva with fine-toothed forceps… and moved
– Ss perceived objects to move opposite way
• …both eyes were held with forceps while he attempted
to deviate the eyes actively .
– Ss perceived objects to move opposite way

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 Skavenski (1972)

30

Brindley et al (1976) conclude with:

It is difficult to recruit more subjects.

31
 Gaze angle (eye position) needed
•Calculating direction for pointing, walking, etc.
•Resolving whether, when retinal motion detected, did eyes move
or objects move? (see pp.205-6)
•Possibilities
•Direct sensing of eye position (via proprioceptive sensation)
•Remembering where you told your eyes to move? (aka
efference copy)

•Eye movement command gets sent to parietal

cortex to:
•Update representations of where things are
•Compensate for retinal motion, so you don’t
perceive world to move when your eyes move.
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• Recap of today, Maps and eyes

• More than one coordinate system needed
• Direction of things relative to Eye (retinotopic map)
• Used to look at things
• Angles added to it to create torso-relative and hand-relative
coordinates, probably in the parietal lobe
• Direction of things relative to Hand, used for reaching
• Need to know orientation of Eyes relative to Head, Head relative to
Neck, etc. all the way down to Hands
• Need to know your eyes’ position
• You keep a copy of command telling eyes where to move
• Command also used to compensate for eye motion, so you don’t think
world moved

•Full map not been found in brain for hand-relative and torso-relative
coordinates.
•Location calculated on-the-fly each time object is attended?
•What brain areas?
35
 Large (cortical motion area)
Transient Parietal
Colour-blind where/how V3 MT MST
areas
Magnocellular DORSAL
LGN V1 V2
Parvocellular
VENTRAL

eye-movement
Small
what (cerebellum) PF

control
Sustained
Colour-sensitive
V4 …
THALAMUS (brainstem)
FFA MN

CORTEX
Koniocellular

RETINA

Carlson
p.206

where/how
vs.
what
pathways 36

socrative.com
Room: ATHK

#4 Describe one of the main points

23/8/2017 Holcombe first lecture

 What do I need to know for the exam?

You’ve noticed that my lectures are not organized as a list of points and facts. My teaching
philosophy is that I’d prefer to convey a couple broad themes and how to think about them, with
multiple examples to provide concrete understanding. For an exam, this kind of understanding
can be tested particularly well by short-answer questions, where you’ll be asked about one of the
big themes of the lectures, and have to provide examples or facts to speak to the theme. But you
also will have noticed some lists of points too in my lectures, e.g. about computers versus
brains. You are responsible for knowing these, and they are well-suited to MCQs.

Everything in the lecture slides is examinable, but anything that you can’t connect to the larger
themes (which are typically identified on the first slide) is unlikely to be on the exam. Anything
that’s in the readings only is not going to be the subject of an MCQ, but there’s a lot of stuff in
the readings to boost your understanding which is particularly likely to improve your short-
answer question performance and can arm you with additional facts useful to mention in the
short-answer question.

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Apraxia is:
A) Neglect of the left side of the world
B) An attentional disorder associated with Parkinson’s
Diseases
C) A cognitive disorder associated with tremor
D) A language deficit that is usually worst for phonology
E) A problem with movement

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