A neuronal device for the control of multi-step computations

Ariel Zylberberg (1) , Luciano Paz (2) , Pieter R. Roelfsema (1, 3) , Stanislas Dehaene (4, 5) , Mariano Sigman (2)

1 NIN - Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience
2 FCEyN - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales [Buenos Aires]
3 AMC - Academic Medical Center - Academisch Medisch Centrum [Amsterdam]
4 Collège de France - Chaire Psychologie cognitive expérimentale
5 NEUROSPIN - Service NEUROSPIN

We describe the operation of a neuronal device which embodies the computational principles of the "paper-and-pencil" machine envisioned by Alan Turing. The network is based on principles of cortical organization. We develop a plausible solution to implement pointers and investigate how neuronal circuits may instantiate the basic operations involved in assigning a value to a variable (i.e., $x$ = 5), in determining whether two variables have the same value and in retrieving the value of a given variable to be accessible to other nodes of the network. We exemplify the collective function of the network in simplified arithmetic and problem solving (blocks-world) tasks.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]

Ariel Zylberberg, Luciano Paz, Pieter R. Roelfsema, Stanislas Dehaene, Mariano Sigman. A neuronal device for the control of multi-step computations. Papers in physics, 2013, 5, pp.050006. ⟨10.4279/PIP.050006⟩. ⟨cea-02933065⟩