How do neurons operate on sparse distributed representations? A mathematical theory of sparsity, neurons and active dendrites

Understand

We propose a formal mathematical model for sparse representations and active dendrites in neocortex.

• Our model is inspired by recent experimental findings on active dendritic processing and NMDA spikes in pyramidal neurons.
• These experimental and modeling studies suggest that the basic unit of pattern memory in the neocortex is instantiated by small clusters of synapses operated on by localized non-linear dendritic processes.
• We derive a number of scaling laws that characterize the accuracy of such dendrites in detecting activation patterns in a neuronal population under adverse conditions.