Topic: pairwise correlations

The idea that perception in humans relies on some form of probabilistic computations has become very popular over the last decades. It has been extremely difficult however to characterize the extent and the nature of the probabilistic representations and operations that are manipulated by neural populations in the human cortex. Several theoretical works suggest that probabilistic representations are present from low-level sensory areas to high-level areas. According to this view, the neural dynamics implements some forms of probabilistic message passing (i.e. neural sampling, probabilistic pop

Nonlinear rate-based models, such as stabilized supralinear networks (SSNs), have been crucial in explaining key aspects of cortical dynamics, including the nonlinear integration of visual inputs and the modulation of response variability. Yet, the absence of spike-based signals in these frameworks has hindered the study of millisecond-scale interactions between pairs of neurons, which have been shown to drive synaptic plasticity. For instance, spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP), a phenomenological description of long-term synaptic plasticity, can shape neural circuits based on spike-bas