New with @kordinglab: a new algorithm for variational inference and a hypothesis for sensory learning in brains arxiv.org/abs/2006.10811. It uses wake and sleep phases and a system that looks a lot like the cholinergic system. Thread: Variational inference is an old hypothesis for the learning objective of sensory cortex. It says feedforward connections infer ‘causes’ of sensory inputs. These aren’t objective attributes, but learned abstractions defined by what inputs they’d generate via feedback connections.

New preprint! Does V4’s tuning to hue on artificial stimuli tell us about its tuning to hue on natural images? Not really. (Twitterified in the thread below) biorxiv.org/content/10.110… with @desipoika, @jugoguj, Matthew Smith, and @KordingLab @desipoika @jugoguj @KordingLab So, a classic way to ask "what does neural activity mean?" in the visual cortex is to vary stimuli in a systematic, parameterized way while recording responses. But do those results tell you what activity 'means' in other contexts, like while viewing natural scenes?