CCN Seminar with Sarah Marzen (Claremont Colleges)

Thursday Sep 8, 2022, 1:15 PM → 2:45 PM America/New_York

4th Floor Classroom/4-Simons Foundation (160 5th Avenue)

 

You are cordially invited to a CCN Seminar with:

Sarah Marzen

Assistant Professor of Physics at the W.M. Keck Science Department at the Claremont Colleges

Talk Date: Tuesday, Sept. 9, 10:30-12:00 PM, CCN Classroom

Title: Optimal sensors in random environments

Abstract: The efficient coding hypothesis has revolutionized theoretical neuroscience.  I would argue that its next-generation instantiation is best understood using rate-distortion theory.  I use rate-distortion theory to inspire a simple model of sensory adaptation.  In randomly drawn, fluctuating environments, this model explains the absence of sensory neurogenesis and predicts that biological sensors are poised to just barely confuse ``minimal confounds'' in the environment.