Speaker: Prof. S. Seung, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Time: 16:45 h (coffee/tea at 16:15 h in front of auditorium)
Place: ETH Hönggerberg, HPV G4
Title: Biologically plausible synaptic models for reinforcement learning
Abstract:
Suppose that we find you practicing your serve on the tennis court, and ask what is happening in your brain as you learn. If you are a neuroscientist, you might reply that you are changing the synapses in your brain to improve your performance. But if we were able to single out a particular synapse in your brain, and ask whether strengthening it would improve your serve, you would be unable to answer. Nevertheless, knowledge of this sort must be available in your brain, if learning indeed proceeds by changing the strengths of synapses. I will discuss current theories of how the brain changes its synapses to optimize behavior, and the prospects for testing these theories experimentally.