CCN Seminar with Srdjan Ostojic (ENS)

Flatiron Institute community members are cordially invited to a CCN Seminar with Srdjan Ostojic, Faculty Member at ENS. Srdjan’s talk title and abstract are below. 

To schedule a meeting with Srdjan during his visit, please be in touch with Jessica Hauser at [email protected]. 

Title: Generalisation through neural dynamics on non-linear manifolds

Abstract: Biological brains possess an unparalleled ability to adapt behavioral responses to changing stimuli and environments. How neural processes enable this capacity is a fundamental open question. We investigated the mechanisms underlying generalization and adaptation within the framework of flexible timing tasks where dynamics play a key role. Examining trained recurrent neural networks, we found that confining the dynamics to a low-dimensional subspace enabled networks to generalise to novel inputs and adapt to changing conditions. Reverse-engineering and theoretical analyses demonstrated that this phenomenon relies on a modulation of dynamics along non-linear manifolds. Comparisons with data from behaving monkeys confirmed the behavioral and neural signatures of this mechanism. (Joint work with the Jazayeri lab.)