Berlin 2008 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 3: Neuronal Systems

BP 3.10: Talk

Monday, February 25, 2008, 16:45–17:00, C 243

Optimal active network topologies for information transmission — •murilo da silva baptista — Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik Komplexer Systeme, Noethnitzerstr. 38, D-01187 Dresden

The relation between neural circuits and behavior is a fundamental matter in neuroscience. In this talk, I will present a theoretical approach that has the potential to unravel such a relationship in terms of network topology, information, and synchronization, in active networks, networks formed by elements that are dynamical systems (such as neurons, chaotic or periodic oscillators). As a direct application of the proposed approaches, I will show how one can construct optimal neural networks that not only transmit large amounts of information from one element to another in the network, but also are robust under alterations in the coupling configuration.

This theoretical approach is general and do not depend on the particular dynamic of the elements forming the network, since the network topology can be determined by finding a Laplacian matrix (the matrix that describes the connections and the coupling strengths among the elements) whose eigenvalues satisfy some special conditions.

Since information might not always be easy to be measured or quantified in experiments, I will also better clarify the non-trivial relation between information and synchronization, a phenomenom which is often not only possible to observe but also relatively easy to characterize.

I will illustrate the theoretical approaches mainly using neural networks of electrically connected chaotic Hindmarsh-Rose neurons.