LATENT CAUSES, PREDICTION ERRORS, AND THE ORGANIZATION OF MEMORY

Simons Foundation Presidential Lectures

REGISTRATION FOR THIS LECTURE WILL CLOSE THE DAY BEFORE THE EVENT. REVIEW THE COMPLETE LIST OF ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS BELOW.

Simons Foundation

<h2>Part of The Neuroscience of Decision Making Presidential Lecture Series in Neuroscience and Autism Science.</h2>

No two events are exactly alike. But still, we learn, which means that we implicitly decide what events are similar enough that experience with one can inform us about what to do in another. Yael Niv and her colleagues have suggested that this relies on an implicit parsing of incoming information into ‘clusters’ according to inferred hidden (latent) causes. Moreover, they have proposed that unexpected information (that is, a prediction error) is key to this separation into clusters.In this talk, Niv will demonstrate these ideas through behavioral experiments showing evidence for clustering in animals and humans and by illustrating the effects of prediction errors on the organization of memory. Finally, she will tie the different findings together into a hypothesis about how our brains organize information about events.<a href="https://pni.princeton.edu/faculty/yael-niv" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Niv</a> received her master’s degree in psychobiology from Tel Aviv University and her Ph.D. in computational neuroscience from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She conducted a major part of her thesis research at the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit at University College London. She is a professor at Princeton University in the psychology department and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. Her lab studies the neural and computational processes underlying reinforcement learning and decision making with a particular focus on how the cognitive processes of attention, memory and learning interact in constructing task representations that allow efficient learning and decision-making. In addition, she is a co-founder and co-director of the Rutgers-Princeton Center for Computational Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, where she is applying ideas from reinforcement learning to questions pertaining to psychiatric disorders within the new field of computational psychiatry.To attend this in-person event, you will need to register in advance and provide:<ul><li>Acceptable proof of vaccination (vaccine card/certificate, a copy or photo of vaccine card/certificate or electronic NYS Excelsior Pass or NJ Docket Pass)</li><li>Photo ID</li><li>Eventbrite ticket confirmation email with QR code</li><li>Simons Foundation Health Screening Questionnaire approval email</li></ul>Guests are expected to complete these requirements each time they visit the Simons Foundation and entrance will not be granted without this documentation.On-site registration will not be permitted. Walk-in entry will be denied.SCHEDULEDoors Open: 5:30 p.m.Lecture: 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.The Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and offers accessible seating to visitors with special access needs.

<aside><a href="https://www.simonsfoundation.org/sf-events/?type=simons-foundation-lectures" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Simons Foundation Presidential Lectures</a> are free public colloquia centered on four main themes: Biology, Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science, and Neuroscience and Autism Science. These curated, high-level scientific talks feature leading scientists and mathematicians and are intended to foster discourse and drive discovery among the broader NYC-area research community. We invite anyone interested in the topic to join us for this weekly lecture series.</aside><aside><a href="http://eepurl.com/hS7ngv" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Sign up here</a> to receive Simons Foundation Presidential Lectures announcements and reminders.</aside>

Our {communityGuidelinesLink} describe the sort of content we prohibit on Eventbrite. If you suspect an event may be in violation, you can report it to us so we can investigate.

To report other categories of prohibited or illegal content, submit {link}