MARCS Monday Meeting (MMM): Werrington Edition

Join us at the Werrington South campus for the next MMM with presentations by postdoctoral researcher Dr Travis Monk, and PhD candidates Atiqul Islam and Nicolas Ralph.

Venue: Level 2, Building BA, (Large meeting space), Werrington South Campus

Speaker: Travis Monk
Topic: Early neural computation as changepoint detection

The core functional features of spiking neurones were probably established very early in their evolutionary history.  Understanding the selection pressures that drove animals to evolve spiking neurones could aid our interpretation of their modern function.  The fossil record strongly suggests that predator-prey interactions have been imposing serious selection pressures on animal bodies and behaviours for over half a billion years.  We will model the detection of predators or prey as a changepoint detection problem, and then analytically show that spiking neurones are an excellent solution to that problem.

The changepoint detection framework implies probabilistic interpretations of key neural electrophysiological features, such as their membrane voltage, threshold, synaptic weight, and time constant.  We will use this result to predict basic neuroanatomical features of the barn owl auditory pathway directly from principles of probability theory.  We will then show how neural changepoint detection facilitates precisely-timed detection of predators or prey in idealised experiments recorded with an event-based camera.  These results suggest a novel prediction:  the spiking statistics of afferent neurones are related to the electrophysiological properties of their efferent neurones.  This prediction is testable, and if it is true, it has probably been governing neural computation throughout its evolutionary history.

Speaker: Md Atiqul Islam
Topic: An Application of Auditory Periphery Model in Speech Processing

Confirmation of Candidature presentation outlining the research problem, aims, preliminary findings and timeline of the study.

Speaker: Nicholas Ralph
Topic: Spacefest 2019

Reporting back from SpaceFest 2019, a Defence-sponsored capability demonstration and equipment trial conducted by Defence Science and Technology (DST) on behalf of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) supported by Plan Jericho, Nic will showcase how the International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems (ICNS) participated in a series of trials designed by the DST and present the results of the observations made with the Astrosite and the Event-Based Sensors developed at ICNS.

We thank you for your continued attendance at the MMM's.  Let's keep the momentum going.

MARCS staff and students are reminded that all meetings and workshops have an important role in building and maintaining the sense of community which is central to the success of MARCS as a cooperative and energetic research institute.  Your attendance is both welcomed and expected.

The zoom ID is: 627 146 998. Link to zoom https://uws.zoom.us/j/627146998