Extra-External Seminar: "Brain decoding: Progress and challenges towards a general-purpose neural mind-reader"

Abstract:

Recent neuroimaging work is pushing in the direction of predictive science with the help of computational and machine learning modeling. Statistical pattern recognition algorithms have been applied to single-trial, multivoxel patterns of fMRI data to make predictions about behavior and cognition including seen stimuli, motor intention, recalled memory, and dreamed contents, realizing a primitive form of “neural mind-reading”. The scientific approach using this method is now widely recognized as “multivoxel (multivariate) pattern analysis (MVPA)” or “brain decoding”. In this talk, I will present methodological principles and limitations of this approach, and discuss new methods that could enable us to read out a wider variety of mental states experienced in real-life settings.

Yukiyasu Kamitani
Kyoto University and ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories
Kyoto, Japan
http://kamitani-lab.tumblr.com

Host: Dr Jonny Smallwood