Connecting performance benefits on visual ...using convolutional neural networks |Grace Lindsay, NYU

Van Vreeswijk Theoretical Neuroscience Seminar
Wednesday, December 7, 2022, at 11:00 am ET
December 7, 2022
Grace Lindsay
New York University
Title: Connecting performance benefits on visual tasks to neural mechanisms using convolutional neural networks

Abstract: Behavioral studies have demonstrated that certain task features reliably enhance classification performance for challenging visual stimuli. These include extended image presentation time and the valid cueing of attention. Here, I will show how convolutional neural networks can be used as a model of the visual system that connects neural activity changes with such performance changes. Specifically, I will discuss how different anatomical forms of recurrence can account for better classification of noisy and degraded images with extended processing time. I will then show how experimentally-observed neural activity changes associated with feature attention lead to observed performance changes on detection tasks. I will also discuss the implications these results have for how we identify the neural mechanisms and architectures important for behavior.