Computational Models of the Neocortex

This course addresses the problem of modeling the perceptual neocortex using probabilistic graphical models, including Bayesian and Markov networks, and extensions to model time and change such as hidden Markov models and dynamic Bayesian networks. The emphasis is on problems of learning, inference, and attention. Sources include the literature in computational and cognitive neuroscience, machine learning, and other fields that bear on how biological and engineered systems make sense of the world. Prerequisites: basic probability theory, algorithms and statistics.