Title
Capacity limits in oscillatory networks: Implications for sensory coding
Abstract
Psychological studies have investigated limits in the capacity to simultaneously store multiple objects in working memory, which turns out to be approximately four. In this paper we examine the existence and origin of such a capacity limit in the sensory encoding stage, where synchronous activity can be considered to group related features of a common object. We develop a model of an object recognition network using oscillatory elements that can achieve phase synchronization. Using simulations based on this network, we show that distinct phases of oscillation can be used to label combinations of objects presented simultaneously. This allows the network to separate mixtures of objects, and identify the input elements that belong to each object. We demonstrate that there is a limit of four objects that can be separated from a mixture. Further studies are required to generalize this result by varying the size of the network and the number of objects used for training. We also show that by narrowing a tuning function that governs the dynamics of the system, we can achieve higher separation accuracy. However, this comes at the cost of utilizing a higher number of iterations over which the system settles and learns its synaptic weights. We lay down a framework for the quantitative modeling of factors affecting capacity limits, which has the potential to advance our understanding of sensory representation, attention, working memory and multitasking.
Year
DOI
Venue
2013
10.1109/IJCNN.2013.6706847
Neural Networks
Keywords
Field
DocType
brain models,object recognition,psychology,synchronisation,capacity limit,multitasking,object recognition network,oscillatory elements,oscillatory network,phase synchronization,quantitative modeling,sensory coding,sensory encoding stage,sensory representation,synchronous activity,tuning function,working memory
Synchronization,Computer science,Working memory,Phase synchronization,Coding (social sciences),Artificial intelligence,Sensory system,Human multitasking,Machine learning,Cognitive neuroscience of visual object recognition,Encoding (memory)
Conference
ISSN
ISBN
Citations 
2161-4393
978-1-4673-6128-6
0
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.34
4
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
A. Ravishankar Rao1627111.58
Guillermo A. Cecchi219934.56