Events

lecture

Tuesday, December 3, 2024
12:30 - 13:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

The Evolution of 7T (and Beyond) MRI in Basic Research and Clinical Practice

lecture

Monday, October 14, 2024
15:00 - 17:00

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

The role of neurons in the direction-selective retinal circuit in visual processing in the retina and in the visual thalamus

Alina Heukamp-Prof. Michal Rivlin Lab

lecture

Thursday, July 11, 2024
11:00 - 12:00

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Designing Language Models to Think Like Humans

Dr. Chen Shani

While language models (LMs) show impressive text manipulation capabilities, they also lack commonsense and reasoning abilities and are known to be brittle. In this talk, I will suggest a different LMs design paradigm, inspired by how humans understand it. I will present two papers, both shedding light on human-inspired NLP architectures aimed at delving deeper into the meaning beyond words. The first paper [1] accounts for the lack of commonsense and reasoning abilities by proposing a paradigm shift in language understanding, drawing inspiration from embodied cognitive linguistics (ECL). In this position paper we propose a new architecture that treats language as inherently executable, grounded in embodied interaction, and driven by metaphoric reasoning. The second paper [2] shows that LMs are brittle and far from human performance in their concept-understanding and abstraction capabilities. We argue this is due to their token-based objectives, and implement a concept-aware post-processing manipulation, showing it matches human intuition better. We then pave the way for more concept-aware training paradigms. [1] Language (Re)modelling: Towards Embodied Language Understanding Ronen Tamari, Chen Shani, Tom Hope, Miriam R L Petruck, Omri Abend, and Dafna Shahaf. 2020. In Proceedings of the 58th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL), pages 6268–6281, Online. Association for Computational Linguistics. [2] Towards Concept-Aware Large Language Models Shani, Chen, Jilles Vreeken, and Dafna Shahaf. In Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: EMNLP 2023, pp. 13158-13170. 2023. Bio: Chen Shani is a post-doctoral researcher at Stanford's NLP group, collaborating with Prof. Dan Jurafsky. Previously, she pursued her Ph.D. at the Hebrew University under the guidance of Prof. Dafna Shahaf and worked at Amazon Research. Her focus lies at the intersection of humans and NLP, where she implements insights from human cognition to improve NLP systems.

lecture

Tuesday, July 9, 2024
12:30 - 13:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

This decision, not just the average decision: Factors contributing to one single perceptual judgment

Prof. Mathew E. Diamond

lecture

Tuesday, June 25, 2024
12:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Reading Minds & Machines-AND-The Wisdom of a Crowd of Brains

Prof. Michal Irani

lecture

Sunday, June 23, 2024
14:15 - 15:30

Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Brain Research

Memory and Obliviscence:From Random to Structured Material

Antonis Georgiou-Student Seminar-PhD Thesis Defense

lecture

Thursday, June 13, 2024
14:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Elucidating convergence and divergence of neural mechanisms: from genes to behavior

Asaf Gat-Student Seminar-PhD Thesis Defense

lecture

Wednesday, June 5, 2024
10:00 - 11:00

Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Brain Research

Memory consolidation and generalization during sleep

Ella Bar-Student Seminar-PhD Thesis Defense

lecture

Tuesday, June 4, 2024
12:30 - 13:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Blood flow perturbations and its impact on brain structure and function: from microstrokes to heartbeats

Prof. Pablo Blinder

lecture

Tuesday, May 28, 2024
12:30 - 13:15

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Vasosdynamics of cortical arterioles and what it informs us about neuronal activity

lecture

Tuesday, May 7, 2024
12:30 - 13:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

The evolution and development of critical periods of cortical plasticity

lecture

Tuesday, April 16, 2024
12:30 - 13:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Consciousness and the brain: comparing and testing neuroscientific theories of consciousness

Prof. Liad Mudrik

lecture

Tuesday, April 9, 2024
14:00 - 15:00

Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research

Beyond Touch: Exploring Audible Aspects of Rodent Whisking

Ben Efron PhD Thesis Defense

lecture

Tuesday, April 9, 2024
12:30 - 13:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Information processing in spiking networks: Converging assemblies

Prof. Eran Stark

lecture

Tuesday, April 2, 2024
12:30 - 13:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Studying Ageing and Neurodegenerative Brain with Quantitative MRI

Prof. Aviv Mezer

lecture

Sunday, March 24, 2024
11:00 - 12:00

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Hippocampal pathology and pathophysiology in the development of temporal lobe epileptogenesis

Prof. Robert S. Sloviter

lecture

Tuesday, March 19, 2024
12:30 - 13:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Dimensionality bottleneck uncovers simple action selection rules in hunting zebrafish

Dr. Lilach Avitan

lecture

Wednesday, March 13, 2024
15:30 - 16:30

Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research

A brain-computer interface for studying long-term changes of hippocampal neural codes

Linor Baliti Turgeman-PhD Thesis Defense

lecture

Tuesday, March 12, 2024
12:30 - 13:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Travelling waves or sequentially activated modules: mapping the granularity of cortical propagation

Dr. Mark Shein-Idelson

lecture

Tuesday, February 20, 2024
12:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Mapping the world around us: A topology-preserved schema of space that supports goal-directed navigation

Dr. Raunak Basu

lecture

Wednesday, February 14, 2024
14:00 - 15:00

The David Lopatie Hall of Graduate Studies

The role of the corpus callosum in interhemispheric communication

Yael Oran-PhD Thesis Defense

lecture

Tuesday, February 13, 2024
12:30 - 13:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Mechanistic insights into ‘brainwashing’

Prof. Jonathan Kipnis

lecture

Tuesday, January 30, 2024
12:30 - 13:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

One molecular- and one circuit-level insight into cognition from studying Drosophila

Prof. Gaby Maimon

lecture

Tuesday, January 16, 2024
12:30 - 13:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Non-canonical circuits for olfaction

Dr. Dan Rokni

lecture

Tuesday, January 9, 2024
13:00

Wolfson Building for Biological Research

Immunoception: Brain Representation and Control of Immunity

Prof. Asya Rolls

lecture

Thursday, January 4, 2024
12:30 - 13:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Olfactory information processing: timing, sequences, geometry and relevance

Prof. Dmitry Rinberg

lecture

Tuesday, January 2, 2024
00:00

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

A paradigm shift in GPCR recruitment and activity: GPCR Voltage Dependence Controls Neuronal Plasticity and Behavior

Prof. Moshe Parnas

: G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) play a paramount role in diverse brain functions. Twenty years ago, GPCR activity was shown to be regulated by membrane potential in vitro, but whether the voltage dependence of GPCRs contributes to neuronal coding and behavioral output under physiological conditions in vivo has never been demonstrated. We show in two different processes that muscarinic GPCR mediated neuromodulation in vivo is voltage dependent. First, we show that muscarinic type A receptors (mAChR-A) mediated neuronal potentiation is voltage dependent. This potentiation voltage dependency is abolished in mutant flies expressing a voltage independent receptor. Most important, muscarinic receptor voltage independence caused a strong behavioral effect of increased odor habituation. Second, we show that muscarinic type B receptors (mAChR-B) voltage dependency is required for both efficient and accurate learning and memory. Normally, to prevent non-specific olfactory learning and memory, mAChR-B activity suppress both signals that are required for plasticity. Behavior experiments demonstrate that mAChR-B knockdown impairs olfactory learning by inducing undesired changes to the valence of an odor that was not associated with the reinforcer. On the other hand, mAChR-B voltage dependence prevents mAChR-B to interfere with plasticity in neurons that are required for the learning and memory process. Indeed, generating flies with a voltage independent mAChR-B resulted in impaired learning. Thus, we provide the very first demonstrations of physiological roles for the voltage dependency of GPCRs by demonstrating crucial involvement of GPCR voltage dependence in neuronal plasticity and behavior. As such, our findings create a paradigm shift in our thinking on GPCR recruitment and activity. Together, we suggest that GPCR voltage dependency plays a role in many diverse neuronal functions including learning and memory and may serve as a target for novel drug development. Light refreshments before the seminar.

lecture

Wednesday, December 6, 2023
14:00 - 15:00

Context-Dependent Dynamic Coordination of Head and Eye Movements During Visual Orienting

Ofer Karp-PhD Defense seminar

The orienting response, described by Pavlov as the “what is it?” reflex, aims to describe an individual's reaction to unexpected stimuli in their environment. Many experimental results show that in such an event, the quickest motor response is of a saccadic eye movement, and if the head is free to move, a head-shift follows the eye to meet the event. Studying orienting in different tasks and contexts have uncovered several variations in head-eye coordination, including modulations of the number of saccades during a single orienting motion and modulations of the relative timing between head and eye movements. In this presentation, I will present my attempt at understanding and modeling the brain-environment loops underlying the visual orienting response. For this aim I have designed and constructed a virtual reality (VR) setting that allows head and eye real-time tracking during visual tasks in different contexts. I will show that, with head-free viewing, the classic eye-leading, fast saccadic gaze-shift response is typical for cases of external visual stimuli. In contrast, multi-saccadic, head-leading gaze-shifts are typical for cases in which the subject orients towards an internal reference position, with no external visual que, regardless of the angle. I demonstrate that the kinematics of the first saccadic eye movement is different between the two conditions, suggesting different motor control mechanisms. My results suggest that the context of orienting, whether it is exogenous (targeting an external stimulus) or endogenous (targeting an internal reference point) affects the balance between the two mechanisms. A comparison of the orienting responses towards visual versus auditory stimuli suggests different modalities (such as auditory and proprioceptive) are treated as endogenous by the visual control system. Based on these results, I suggest a competitive multiple-closed-loop dynamic model of gaze orienting. Simulations of the model show it can replicate the empirical kinematics and statistics. My results suggest that the traditional view of the mechanism underlying gaze orienting response should be revisited to take into account the source of the response as well as the subjective context of orienting. I propose that the closed-loop model for orienting presented here can address this aspect. If accepted, this model can facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of several oculomotor impairments. Zoom: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/98466393859?pwd=blJkSDUyWkR0L2FhQUFueS9FY2lwZz09 Id: 98466393859 passcode: 059130

lecture

Thursday, November 23, 2023
11:30 - 12:30

Dissecting the role of peripheral immunity in Alzheimer’s Disease pathogenesis and disease course

Tommaso Croese PhD Defense

lecture

Thursday, September 28, 2023
11:00 - 12:15

The David Lopatie Hall of Graduate Studies

Experience-dependent genetic and synaptic regulation of stability and plasticity in cortical circuits

Dahlia Kushinsky-Student Seminar PhD Thesis Defense

lecture

Wednesday, August 30, 2023
12:30 - 13:30

Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall

Understanding spontaneous neuronal activity with neurophotonics

Prof. Anna Devor

All events

The Evolution of 7T (and Beyond) MRI in Basic Research and Clinical Practice

The role of neurons in the direction-selective retinal circuit in visual processing in the retina and in the visual thalamus

Designing Language Models to Think Like Humans

This decision, not just the average decision: Factors contributing to one single perceptual judgment

Reading Minds & Machines-AND-The Wisdom of a Crowd of Brains

Memory and Obliviscence:From Random to Structured Material

Elucidating convergence and divergence of neural mechanisms: from genes to behavior

Memory consolidation and generalization during sleep

Blood flow perturbations and its impact on brain structure and function: from microstrokes to heartbeats

Vasosdynamics of cortical arterioles and what it informs us about neuronal activity

The evolution and development of critical periods of cortical plasticity

Consciousness and the brain: comparing and testing neuroscientific theories of consciousness

Beyond Touch: Exploring Audible Aspects of Rodent Whisking

Information processing in spiking networks: Converging assemblies

Studying Ageing and Neurodegenerative Brain with Quantitative MRI

Hippocampal pathology and pathophysiology in the development of temporal lobe epileptogenesis

Dimensionality bottleneck uncovers simple action selection rules in hunting zebrafish

A brain-computer interface for studying long-term changes of hippocampal neural codes

Travelling waves or sequentially activated modules: mapping the granularity of cortical propagation

Mapping the world around us: A topology-preserved schema of space that supports goal-directed navigation

The role of the corpus callosum in interhemispheric communication

Mechanistic insights into ‘brainwashing’

One molecular- and one circuit-level insight into cognition from studying Drosophila

Non-canonical circuits for olfaction

Immunoception: Brain Representation and Control of Immunity

Olfactory information processing: timing, sequences, geometry and relevance

A paradigm shift in GPCR recruitment and activity: GPCR Voltage Dependence Controls Neuronal Plasticity and Behavior

Context-Dependent Dynamic Coordination of Head and Eye Movements During Visual Orienting

Dissecting the role of peripheral immunity in Alzheimer’s Disease pathogenesis and disease course

Experience-dependent genetic and synaptic regulation of stability and plasticity in cortical circuits

Understanding spontaneous neuronal activity with neurophotonics