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Caltech

CNS Seminar

Monday, March 2, 2015
4:00pm to 4:00pm
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Beckman Behavioral Biology B180
Collective computation in nonlinear networks and the grammar of evolvability
Jean-Jacques Slotine, Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

Computation, synchronization, and measurement are key issues in complex networks. Vast nonlinear networks are encountered in biology, for instance, and in neuroscience, where for most tasks the human brain grossly outperforms engineered algorithms using computational elements 7 orders of magnitude slower than their artificial counterparts. We show that modern nonlinear dynamic systems analysis tools yield simple but highly non-intuitive insights about such issues, and that they also suggest systematic mechanisms to build progressively more refined networks and novel algorithms through stable accumulation of functional building blocks and motifs.