QLS Seminar Series - Chris Eliasmith

The algebra of cognition

Chris Eliasmith, University of Waterloo
Tuesday February 25, 12-1pm
Zoom Link: https://mcgill.zoom.us/j/89914150820
In Person: 550 Sherbrooke, Room 189

Abstract: In recent years, my lab and others have demonstrated the value of vector symbolic algebras (VSAs) for capturing a wide variety of neural and behavioural results. In this talk I discuss the surprising and compelling variety of tasks and styles of reasoning that are well-suited to descriptions using a specific VSA. These tasks include path integration, navigation, Bayesian reasoning, sampling, memorization, and logical inference. The resulting spiking neural network models capture various hippocampal cell types (grid, place, border, etc.), behavioural errors, and a variety of observed neural dynamics.