Matteo Carandini

@carandinilab.net

2893 Followers 464 Following

Neuroscientist at University College London (www.ucl.ac.uk/cortexlab). Opinions my own.

THE ROYAL SOCIETY Dear Professor Carandini For your information, please see a response, submitted by Royal Society, to the consultation by the US Office of Management and Budget regarding the proposed Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance.   We hold these truths to be self-evident, that: science flourishes when based on reliable evidence and rigorous testing. It is tested through experiments, observation, challenge, reasoning and open enquiry. It depends on the freedom of researchers to question established thinking and to evaluate ideas on their scientific merit. Science is strengthened by international collaboration. The exchange of people, ideas, data and expertise across borders has driven many of humanity’s greatest advances. They remain essential to tackling shared global challenges. Science depends on trust. Trust that is earned through integrity, transparency, rigorous peer review and the independence of scientific enquiry. Governments determine both high level national priorities as well as levels of investment, doing so by respecting established scientific knowledge. Scientific conclusions must continue to be guided by evidence rather than political or ideological preference. Science builds bridges between nations. Throughout history, even during periods of geopolitical tension, it has been one of the most powerful examples of constructive international cooperation. These truths have served science and society remarkably well for generations. The Royal Society is deeply concerned by any actions, wherever they occur, that risk weakening them. Nations and their people will prosper only if these truths are respected, supported and protected. Sir Paul Nurse FRS Royal Society President, and Council The Royal Society The UK National Academy of Science since 1660
A diagram showing a sequence of linear operations, with visual signals from visual cortex added to auditory signals from auditory cortex. Prefrontal cortex sums these signals and superior colliculus provides a constant, stimulus-independent factor pushing for each eligible action. The final decision is taken via softmax.
Examples of sequences of activity seen in multiple regions of the brain
The five points I covered in the lecture: Visual areas as maps of the visual field Ventral and dorsal pathways Receptive fields and filtering across areas How visual areas might work together The visual cortex as a deep neural network?
A Neuropixels Opto probe with 3 blue emitters and 3 red emitters lighting up in succession, with corresponding neural activity in different layers of the cortex.