Abstract: What are the computational principles underlying the transformation of sensory representations along brain sensory hierarchies? I will discuss recent theoretical results addressing: (1) the role of sparsity, expansion and noise in signal propagation in deep networks;  (2) the potential role of top-down inputs in providing context information, and (3) object recognition and classification from neuronal manifolds.

* Food will be out by 3:30pm and everyone is welcome to come to eat and socialize before the talk starts, at 4:00pm sharp.