Synergy and information in complex neural systems

Abstract

This talk describes my research achievements and how they relate to my research goal of discovering the principles of collective behaviour. By collective behaviour, I refer to behaviour displayed by groups of agents in a complex system, such as biological neurons in the human brain or artificial neurons in a deep neural network. I present new theories based on the concepts of integrated information, synergy, and redundancy; and showcase real-world applications related to mental health therapy and diagnosis of neurological disorders. Taken together, my contributions provide the first step of an ambitious long-term research programme that can benefit the Department of Computing through new avenues for funding and collaboration.