Abstraction

Abstraction and generalization are essential for flexible decision-making in novel situations. Recent work in humans and monkeys has shown how abstract variables are encoded by the representational geometry of single-neuron population activity in a format that supports generalization. However, these observations typically are made after learning has converged, leaving open the question of how these representations form. We designed the present study to tackle this question. We developed a factorized model of temporal abstraction that builds on the successor representation and is motivated by r

…examples to show the power of abstraction, then considers the challenges of explaining group theory to non-specialists. Chen also reflects on his experience communicating mathematics and his plans for further study.

…behaviors depending on the level of abstraction, such as concreteness and over-inclusion in their verbal reports. However, the fundamental pathology underling the difficulties that patients face in selecting an appropriate level of abstraction remains poorly understood. In this study, we applied an encoding modeling method to functional magnetic reso

Wobble board-based Exergaming of different intensities provides a unique approach to enhance different cognitive and balance parameters . This study aims to determine that which of the cognitive and balance components are greatly affected by wobble board exergaming of different intensities in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).In this study ninety-seven MCI participants (MoCA 18-24, aged 50-75 years) were randomly assigned into mild, moderate, high intensity novel wobble board based exergaming, and control. All groups received 24 sessions (40 minutes/session, 3 times/week). Diffe

…Cheng explains how abstraction reveals patterns and connections across different areas of mathematics, from geometry and topology to symmetry, and how category-theoretic thinking can illuminate situations in everyday life.

…To understand the neural basis of this abstraction, we developed a novel behavioural paradigm for mice: the “ABCD” task, and recorded from their medial frontal neurons as they learned. Animals learned multiple tasks where they had to visit 4 rewarded locations on a spatial maze in sequence, which defined a sequence of four “task states” (ABCD). Tasks shared the same circular transition structure (… ABCDABCD …) but differed

…seeming to learn relational abstractions with little training. Further, work with toddlers seem to suggest that relational generalizations are no more difficult than those based on objects, and they can readily consider both simultaneously. Likewise, causal learning research with adults suggests that people infer causal relationships at multiple levels of abstraction simultaneously as they learn about novel causal systems. These findings all app

…systems and thereby promotes abstraction; second, it promotes inferences from known situations to less familiar situations; and, third, it reveals potentially important differences between examples. In short, structure-mapping

…The process of abstraction solves this by constructing abstract variables describing features shared by different specific instances, reducing dimensionality and enabling generalization in novel situations. Here we characterized neural representations in monkeys performing a task where a hidden variable described the temporal statistics of stimulus-response-outcome mappings. Abstraction was defined operationally using the generalization performance of neural decoders across task conditions not used for tr

…to make machines use language, form abstractions and concepts, solve kinds of problems now reserved for humans, and improve themselves.” More than six decades later, all of these research topics remain open and actively investigated in the AI community. While AI has made dramatic progress over the last decade in areas such as vision, natural language processing, and robotics, current AI systems still almost entirely lack the ability to form humanlike concept

…The process of abstraction solves this by constructing abstract variables describing features shared by different specific instances, reducing dimensionality and enabling generalization in novel situations. We characterized neural representations in monkeys performing a task where a hidden variable described the temporal statistics of stimulus-response-outcome mappings. Abstraction was defined operationally using the generalization performance of neural decoders across task conditions not used for trainin