Structured flows on manifolds

Date Issued:: 2008
Summary:: Despite the high-dimensional nature of the nervous system, humans produce low-dimensional cognitive and behavioral dynamics. How high-dimensional networks with complex connectivity give rise to functionally meaningful dynamics is not well understood. How does a neural network encode function? How can functional dynamics be systematically obtained from networks? There exist few frameworks in the current literature that answer these questions satisfactorily. In this dissertation I propose a general theoretical framework entitled 'Structured Flows on Manifolds' and its underlying mathematical basis. The framework is based on the principles of non-linear dynamical systems and Synergetics and can be used to understand how high-dimensional systems that exhibit multiple time-scale behavior can produce low-dimensional dynamics. Low-dimensional functional dynamics arises as a result of the timescale separation of the systems component's dynamics. The low-dimensional space in which the functi onal dynamics occurs is regarded as a manifold onto which the entire systems dynamics collapses. For the duration of the function the system will stay on the manifold and evolve along the manifold. From a network perspective the manifold is viewed as the product of the interactions of the network nodes. The subsequent flows on the manifold are a result of the asymmetries of network's interactions. A distributed functional architecture based on this perspective is presented. Within this distributed functional architecture, issues related to networks such as flexibility, redundancy and robustness of the network's dynamics are addressed. Flexibility in networks is demonstrated by showing how the same network can produce different types of dynamics as a function of the asymmetrical coupling between nodes. Redundancy can be achieved by systematically creating different networks that exhibit the same dynamics. The framework is also used to systematically probe the effects of lesion

Title:	Structured flows on manifolds: distributed functional architectures.	225 views 64 downloads
Name(s):	Pillai, Ajay S. Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Science Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences
Type of Resource:	text
Genre:	Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Issued:	2008
Publisher:	Florida Atlantic University
Physical Form:	electronic
Extent:	xxii, 124 p. : ill. (some col.).
Language(s):	English
Summary:	Despite the high-dimensional nature of the nervous system, humans produce low-dimensional cognitive and behavioral dynamics. How high-dimensional networks with complex connectivity give rise to functionally meaningful dynamics is not well understood. How does a neural network encode function? How can functional dynamics be systematically obtained from networks? There exist few frameworks in the current literature that answer these questions satisfactorily. In this dissertation I propose a general theoretical framework entitled 'Structured Flows on Manifolds' and its underlying mathematical basis. The framework is based on the principles of non-linear dynamical systems and Synergetics and can be used to understand how high-dimensional systems that exhibit multiple time-scale behavior can produce low-dimensional dynamics. Low-dimensional functional dynamics arises as a result of the timescale separation of the systems component's dynamics. The low-dimensional space in which the functi onal dynamics occurs is regarded as a manifold onto which the entire systems dynamics collapses. For the duration of the function the system will stay on the manifold and evolve along the manifold. From a network perspective the manifold is viewed as the product of the interactions of the network nodes. The subsequent flows on the manifold are a result of the asymmetries of network's interactions. A distributed functional architecture based on this perspective is presented. Within this distributed functional architecture, issues related to networks such as flexibility, redundancy and robustness of the network's dynamics are addressed. Flexibility in networks is demonstrated by showing how the same network can produce different types of dynamics as a function of the asymmetrical coupling between nodes. Redundancy can be achieved by systematically creating different networks that exhibit the same dynamics. The framework is also used to systematically probe the effects of lesion
Summary:	(removal of nodes) on network dynamics. It is also shown how low-dimensional functional dynamics can be obtained from firing-rate neuron models by placing biologically realistic constraints on the coupling. Finally the theoretical framework is applied to real data. Using the structured flows on manifolds approach we quantify team performance and team coordination and develop objective measures of team performance based on skill level.
Identifier:	243800679 (oclc), 77649 (digitool), FADT77649 (IID), fau:4309 (fedora)
Note(s):	by Ajay S. Pillai. Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008. Includes bibliography. Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, FL : 2008 Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subject(s):	Manifolds (Mathematics) Differentiable dynamical systems Mathematical physics
Persistent Link to This Record:	http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/77649
Use and Reproduction:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution:	FAU

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