520.735

Sensory Information Processing

 

Analysis of  information processing in sensory organs and in engineered  microsystems  using the mathematical tools of communication theory. Natural or synthetic structures are modeled as microscale communication networks implemented under physical constraints, such as size and available energy resources and are studied at two levels of abstraction. At  the information processing level we examine the functional specification, while at the implementation level we examine the physical  specification and realization. Both levels are  characterized by Shannon's channel capacity, as determined by the channel bandwidth, the signal power, and the noise power. The link between the information processing level and the implementation level of abstraction is established through first principles and phenomenological otherwise, models for transformations on the signal, constraints on the system, and noise that degrades the signals. This year we focus on early visual processing.

 

Spring 2001

Staff
Professor Andreas G. Andreou, Latrobe 229, 410-516-8361
Pamela Abshire (now Professor at University of Maryland at College Park)

Course Logistics

Schedule and Syllabus

Week

Lecture topics

Reading  Assignment

 Homework Assignment

1

Organizational meeting; course overview 02-01-2001

Bialek

  

2

Introduction to the mathematical theory of communication (Part I)

Shannon and Weaver or

 Shannon

Abshire and Andreou

 Assignment #1 (due 03-01)

van Hateren's collection of natural stimuli (vision)

3

 Introduction to the mathematical theory of communication (Part II)

Shannon and Weaver or

Shannon

Abshire and Andreou

  

4-5-6

 Information theory,  sensory processing and visual communication

Laughlin

Atick

Richards

Huck and Fales

 

7-8-9

Blowfly photoreceptor as a communication network (I) -analysis at the information processing level-

Blowfly photoreceptor as a communication network (II) -analysis at the physical level-

van Hateren

Abshire and Andreou

Manwan and Koch

  

10-11

Visual Communication

Spatial information capacity

Electro-optical design

Fales and Huck

  

12

 Energy cost of information processing Laughlin, van Steveninck and Anderson

Abshire and Andreou

  

13

 Synthetic sensory microsystems Boahen and Andreou

Boahen

 Final Project

 

Reading References:

 [1] Physical limits to sensation and perception, W. Bialek., Ann. Rev. Biophys. Biophys. Chem., 16:455--478, 1987.

[2] P. Abshire and A.G. Andreou,  “Capacity and energy cost of information in biological and silicon photoreceptors ," Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 89, No. 7, pp. 1052-1064, July 2001 (Invited Paper).

[3] A simple coding procedures enhances a neuron's information capacity, S. B. Laughlin, Z. Naturforsch. 36c: 910-912, 1981.

[4] Could information theory provide an ecological theory of sensory processing?, J.J. Atick, Network vol. 3, pp. 213-251, 1992.

[5] Lightness scale from image intensity distributions, W. Richards, Applied Optics, vol. 21, no. 14, 2569-2582, 1982.

[6] An information theory of visual communication, F.O. Huck, C.L. Fales and  Z. Rahman, Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society London A 354, 2193-2248, 1996.

[7] The rate of information transfer at graded-potential synapses, R. R. de Ruyter van Steveninck and S. B. Laughlin, Nature, vol. 379, 642-64, February 1996.

[8] P.A. Abshire and A.G. Andreou,  "A communication channel model for information transmission in the blowfly photoreceptor," Biosystems, Vol. 62, pp. 113-133, 2001.

[9] Detecting and estimating signals in noisy cable structures: (I) neuronal noise sources, A. Manwani and C. Koch, Neural Computation, 11:1797--1829, Nov 1999. (postcript)

[10] Detecting and estimating signals in noisy cable structures: (II) information theoretical analysis, A. Manwani and C. Koch, Neural Computation, 11: 1831--1873, Nov 1999. (postcript)

[11] The metabolic cost of neural information, R. R. de Ruyter van Steveninck, J.C. Anderson and S. B. Laughlin, Nature Neuroscience, 1 (1), 1996.

[12] Image gathering and digital restoration, C.L. Fales, F.O. Huck, R. Alter-Gartenberg and Z. Rahman, Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society London A 354, 2249-2287, 1996.

[13] A contrast sensitive silicon retina with reciprocal synapses, K.A. Boahen and A.G. Andreou, Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, pp. 764-772, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, San Mateo, 1992. (pdf)

[14] A retinomorphic chip that sees quadruple images, K.A. Boahen, Proceedings of  Micro-Neuron 99, pp. 12-20, Granada Spain, April 1999. (pdf)

Bibliography:

 [1] Mathematical Theory of Communication, C.E. Shannon and W. Weaver, University of Illinois Press, 1963. This book is a reprint of the original paper with corrections and an introduction by W. Weaver. The original version of the Bell System Technical Journal paper can be downloaded from here (pdf). See also the discussion on the Shannon web site at Bell labs.

[2] Elements of Information Theory, T.M. Cover and J.A. Thomas, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1991.

[3] Sensory Communication, W.A. Rosenblith, editor,  M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, MA, 1961.

[4] Foundations of Vision, B.A. Wandell, Sinauer Associates Inc. Publishers, MA 1995.

[5] Spikes: Exploring the Neural Code, F. Rieke, D. Warland, R. de Reuter van Steveninck, W. Bialek, MIT Press, 1997.

Useful Local Links:

Sensory Communication and Microsystems Lab WWW page (our lab)

Polarization Imaging

Other Links to Interesting Sites:

Pamela Abshire's Lab WWW page

Hans van Hateren's Lab WWW page

Kwabena Boahen's Lab WWW page

Shannon's original paper WWW site at AT&T Bell Labs

Page maintained by A.G. Andreou, andreou@jhu.edu , Last update: Thursday, February 12, 2004