Reverse engineering the brain Prof. Jan Lauwereyns Advanced Engineering A

Re-inventing a machine that already exists = Understanding how it works; being able to re-make it and to fix it

Neural coding and decoding Information e.g., Visual image Brain Activity e.g., Visual neuron Information e.g., Machine vision

Neural coding and decoding Information e.g., Visual image Brain Activity e.g., Visual neuron Information e.g., Machine vision

Neural coding and decoding Information e.g., Visual image Brain Activity e.g., Visual neuron Information e.g., Machine vision Studying the relation between events (stimuli, responses) and brain activity

Neural decoding and decoding Information e.g., Machine vision Brain Activity e.g., Visual neuron

Neural decoding and decoding Information e.g., Machine vision Brain Activity e.g., Visual neuron Trying to reconstruct events based on the interpretation of brain data

Neural coding and decoding Information e.g., Visual image Brain Activity e.g., Visual neuron Information e.g., Machine vision

Complex data…

Important applications…

Measuring brain activity Blood flow fMRI

Measuring brain activity Blood flow fMRI, PET, NIRS

Measuring brain activity Blood flow fMRI, PET, NIRS = Indirect, not neural activity itself, but supply of blood to neurons (via glia)

Measuring brain activity Blood flow fMRI, PET, NIRS Electrical activity EEG

Measuring brain activity Blood flow fMRI, PET, NIRS Electrical activity EEG, MEG, Intracranial, Single cell, Intracellular

Measuring brain activity Blood flow fMRI, PET, NIRS Electrical activity = Can be direct, when you insert the electrode in the brain, or even in the neuron, but is “invasive”

Single-unit studies, recording electrical discharges of individual neurons Cat (Hubel & Wiesel) Monkey Rat Correlate neuronal activity with task events in simple behavioral paradigms Best possible temporal and spatial resolution But: cost, external validity Well defined, hypothesis driven

The work of Wolfram Schultz et al. Dopamine neurons & reward