Thanks, I'm just reading this : http://williamcalvin.com/1990s/1995Handbook.htm
Very interesting idea.. from what I can undestand (esp: Discussion paragraphs) .. the idea is that "minicolumn" sort of represent basic physiological unit (based on ontogenesis i.e. how the neurons grow and migrate in the cortex)... but then the "macro-column" is not so much as physical artefact, but more of a consequence of the ability of the "mini-columns" and/or group of neurons to act synchronously (stable, over a range of ~0.5 mm, purely from physical constraints larger areas would be harder to sync?) to form a next level of cortex functionality !? I.e. physical mini-columns play the role of basic functional-unit and soft/hard macro-column play the role of basic processing unit ?! So that mini-column can act asynchronous and macro-column "reach consensus" acting in sync. any thoughts ... -------| http://ifni.co On Mon, Apr 14, 2014 at 2:18 PM, Dean Horak <[email protected]> wrote: > The link below is a good review article on the minicolumn hypothesis. > > I don't speak for the whole group, but my understanding is that NuPIC is > based on minicolumns as the the fundamental computational unit. > > Macrocolumns are essentially structures consisting of many minicolumns. > > You're right though, there is no consensus on this question (the > significance cortical columns). There is a reasonable amount of supporting > evidence, but since we don't fully understand how these columns operate so > it remains a hypothesis. As the link you referenced points out, it is > possible that the repetitive structure and organization of these columns > could be the result of patterns of development rather than function. My > feeling is that no doubt development plays a significant role in the > organizational structure, that does not preclude it from establishing a > significant functional role as well (i.e. given the small-world network > organization of the brain, the developmental origins may well have given > rise to the functional capabilities). > > In any case, it's fairly evident that the NuPIC community has a good deal of > confidence in the cortical columnar hypothesis being correct. > > > http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/125/5/935.full > > > On Mon, Apr 14, 2014 at 12:41 PM, mraptor <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Hi, >> >> Can somebody point me to a place where I can find more information >> about internal structure of the cortex "minicolumns" and how they >> connect with the neighbouring areas ? If there is such info somewhere >> ? >> It is my understanding the the NuPic is based on the idea of columnar >> structure of the cortex !? right ? Which one do you have in mind >> "minicolumn" OR "macrocolumn" ? >> >> I'm interested for the time being mostly in the minicolumn structure. >> >> >> I'm reading this : >> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1569491/ >> >> and it seems there seems to be some disagreement in "Brain" community >> which one is the basic computational building block of the cortex ... >> minicolumn, modules, macrocolumn .... etc >> >> Can you clarify which part NuPic has picked as basic computational >> artefact ? >> >> thanks.. >> >> Again my primary question is any link to info that discusses >> "minicolumns" and in intra/outro-connections ? >> >> >> -------| http://ifni.co >> >> _______________________________________________ >> nupic mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.numenta.org/mailman/listinfo/nupic_lists.numenta.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > nupic mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.numenta.org/mailman/listinfo/nupic_lists.numenta.org > _______________________________________________ nupic mailing list [email protected] http://lists.numenta.org/mailman/listinfo/nupic_lists.numenta.org
