{"653494":{"#nid":"653494","#data":{"type":"event","title":"Georgia Tech Neuro Seminar Series","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026quot;From Spikes to Factors: Understanding Large-scale Neural Computations\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/churchland.zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMark Churchland, Ph.D.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cstrong\u003EAssistant Professor\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDepartment of Neuroscience\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nColumbia University\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nIt is widely accepted that human cognition is the product of spiking neurons. Yet even for basic cognitive functions, such as the ability to make decisions or prepare and execute a voluntary movement, the gap between spikes and computation is vast. Only for very simple circuits and reflexes can one explain computations neuron-by-neuron and spike-by-spike. This approach becomes infeasible when neurons are numerous the flow of information is recurrent. To understand computation, one thus requires appropriate abstractions. An increasingly common abstraction is the neural \u0026lsquo;factor\u0026rsquo;. Yet there remains some discomfort with this abstraction, and with any attempt to provide mechanistic explanations above that of spikes, neurons, cell-types, and other comfortingly concrete entities. I will explain why, for many networks of spiking neurons, factors are not only a well-defined abstraction, but are critical to understanding network computation mechanistically. Indeed, factors are as real as other abstractions we now accept: pressure, temperature, conductance, and even the action potential itself. I use recent empirical results to illustrate how factor-based hypotheses have become essential to the forming and testing of scientific hypotheses. I will also show how fully embracing factor-level descriptions affords remarkable power when decoding neural activity for neural engineering purposes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBio\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nProfessor Churchland is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Columbia University. \u0026nbsp;He is the co-director of the Grossman Center for the Statistics of Mind. \u0026nbsp;He received his BA in mathematics and psychology from Reed College in Portland Oregon. \u0026nbsp;He received his PhD in neuroscience from the University of California San Francisco. \u0026nbsp;His postdoctoral work was in the Neural Prosthetic Systems Laboratory of Professor Krishna Shenoy at Stanford University. \u0026nbsp;Professor Churchland\u0026rsquo;s laboratory focuses on how the brain controls voluntary movement.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo attend virtually,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bluejeans.com\/824485104\/\u0022\u003Euse this link\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"\u0022From Spikes to Factors: Understanding Large-scale Neural Computations\u0022 - Mark Churchland, Ph.D., Columbia University "}],"uid":"35486","created_gmt":"2021-12-08 15:00:19","changed_gmt":"2022-03-28 17:08:27","author":"Christina Wessels","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2022-04-04T12:15:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2022-04-04T13:15:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2022-04-04T13:15:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2022-04-04 16:15:00","gmt_time_end":"2022-04-04 17:15:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2022-04-04 17:15:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1795","name":"Seminar\/Lecture\/Colloquium"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78761","name":"Faculty\/Staff"},{"id":"177814","name":"Postdoc"},{"id":"78771","name":"Public"},{"id":"174045","name":"Graduate students"},{"id":"78751","name":"Undergraduate students"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:terry.kauffman@bme.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ETerry Kauffman\u003C\/a\u003E - event inquiries\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}