Artificial Life Research Agenda
I briefly introduce my long term mission.
DM's Blog
Curious Cat and Amateur Neuroscientist
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Tuning the Neuromuscular Junction
In this lecture I explore how the nervous system implements closed loop control.
Servos in the spinal cord
In this lecture I explain how the spinal cord implements a closed loop controller for each muscle.
Mathematical Universe Hypothesis
Something a bit different ...
Evolutionary Algorithms Literature Review
I review the literature and state of the art of genetic and evolutionary algorithms.
Short Term Synaptic Plasticity
In this lecture I discuss short term synaptic plasticity.
What is it? And what is its purpose?
The Brainstem & The Cerebellum: Basic Operating Principles
In this lecture I explain the basic operating principles of the brainstem and the cerebellum. If you prefer to read, the next post is a short article covering this same material.
How The Cerebellum Contributes to Behavior
This article reviews the prerequisite knowledge of control systems and then explains the purpose and function of the cerebellum.
The Representation of Information in the Brain
In this lecture I explain how the cortex represents information.
Introduction to Computational Neuroscience
In this lecture I introduce the topic of computational neuroscience and then I briefly review the biology and chemistry of the brain.
NMODL Preprocessor
This program optimizes NMODL files for the NEURON simulator. I wanted to see how much performance was being left on the table: between 5%-15%.
Play with the NEURON Simulator
This script sets up the NEURON simulator with a realistic model of action potential propagation. The pyramidal neuron was scanned from layer 5 of a cat's visual cortex.
On Brainwaves and Video Games
Hypothesis: If the brain can predict when an event will happen, it can consciously perceive it faster. This has important implications for FPS video game tactics.
Kropff & Treves 2008, for Numenta and the HTM Forum
Lecture about the (Kropff & Treves, 2008) theory of Grid Cells.
This reframes their work in terms of Numenta's HTM theory.
Run Away Synapses
An in-depth analysis of a flaw that I found and fixed in the HTM algorithm.
Prototype of Stability Mechanism for Viewpoint Invariance
In this report I demonstrate an unsupervised learning algorithm for recognizing objects and their boundaries. This is a biologically constrained extension of the HTM theory.
Kropff & Treves 2008, Reproduction Study
In this report I reproduce a computational model of "grid cells," which are a type of neuron that tracks an animal's physical location.
HTM Stability
In this report I discuss viewpoint invariance for HTM systems. I introduce the concept of stability, quantify it, and demonstrate a rudimentary method of achieving it.
Spatial Pooler Implementation for MNIST Dataset
In this report I reproduce the Spatial Pooler algorithm and experiment with logarithmic boosting and local inhibition. This was my first post on the HTM Forum.
Science in the 21st Century
Under the right conditions, science and technology can accelerate its own development.
Global Illumination
I took several computer graphics courses in college and I enjoyed them a lot.
Graph Algorithms in Python
This is a python library of graph algorithms that I published in college. Graphs are a mathematical concept and at the time I was quite interested in studying their properties and applications. This library's distinguishing feature is that it operates directly on the user's data structures, whereas all comparable libraries required the user to copy their data into and out of a specific data structure or format. My library accomplishes this using an "adjacency()" function to specify the graph structure. I'm proud of how simple and versatile this API is.
Wright Flyer Animation
I rendered this animation for a college course, in which I learned that 3D modeling is a difficult skill that I don't have.
A funny thing happened on the way to the other side
Anecdotes from a youth spent wandering the roads at night