SBRI seminar by Matthew Chalk

Neural circuits perform a diverse range of functions, from encoding sensory signals to storing memories and controlling muscle movements. A long-standing challenge is to work out which functions are performed by different circuits, and how. I will show that a well-established framework (inverse reinforcement learning) for estimating an agent's goals, such as an animal looking for food or a person driving to work, can be used to infer the function performed by a recorded neural circuit. This framework could help reveal the various computations neural circuits have evolved to perform. Further, it predicts how neural responses should adapt to perform the same function under varying conditions (e.g.~different stimuli/cell death).

Matthew Chalk, Institut de la Vision