Notes

Ontogenesis It represents the process by which a human/animal is generated.

• Brain is wired to function at birth (e.g., ingestive, reproductive, defensive behavior).
• Reptile brain is inherited through eons.
• Expansion into cerebral hemispheres. (Homeomorphic Expansion: the Midbrain is hardwired genetically and the Cortex is a prestructured image of midbrain, subject to learning and self-organization).

Information Content of the Brain

• 10ˆ10 neurons.
• 10ˆ14 synaptic connections.
• 33 bits address per connection.
• 10ˆ15 bytes to describe the brain's wiring.

Genetic Information One gigabyte (3.3 billion nucleotides).

Training Information A few gigabytes of VR.

Information Gap

• One gigabyte of genetic information.
• Some gigabytes to describe the learning environment.
• A petabyte to describe the brain's wiring. Then where do 99% of the information come from?

Kolmogorov Complexity

• The shortest algorithm to create a structure.
• Julia Set: image created on the base of an algorithm.
• The amount of information that is required to describe this structure in infinite.
• Highly Efficient Kolmogorov Algorithms
  • Can create a lot of structure.
  • But only certain structures can be created that way.
• The brain must have a very efficient algorithm in the development of its structure.

The Brain's Kolmogorov Algorithm

• Low Kolmogorov Complexity.
• Powerfully reduced search space.
• Network Self-Organization.
• Attractor Networks: an universe of structured patterns.
• Ontogenesis of retinotopic fiber projections as example of network self-organization. (Development of wiring between the eye's retina and the optic tectum). During cooperation, neighboring cells help each other building stronger connections.

Emergence of Self-Reinforcing Network

• One-dimensional retina and tectum.
• Periodic Boundary Conditions.
• Small symmetry-braking component in initial state.
• Networks emerge on the basis of self-consistency of connectivity.

Two Types of Nets

• Neural Fields
• Topological Mappings