Computing language with mirror neurons

• Grant number: 16/18825-4
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research Partnership for Technological Innovation - PITE
• Duration: August 01, 2017 - July 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biophysics - Biophysics of Processes and Systems
• Convênio/Acordo: IBM Brasil
• Principal Investigator: Fábio Marques Simões de Souza
• Grantee: Fábio Marques Simões de Souza
• Host Institution: Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição (CMCC). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Host Company: IBM Brasil - Indústria, Máquinas e Serviços Ltda
• City: Santo André
• Pesquisadores principais: Maria Teresa Carthery Goulart
• Associated grant(s): 17/50406-4 - Computing language and cognitive deficits in a three layered cortex, AP.R SPRINT

Abstract

Computational modeling of the neural correlates of language processing is a fundamental step toward the cognitive computing of natural language. However, most studies of the neural correlates of text reading focus on nouns, and little is known about the underlying neural mechanisms for processing and recognizing verbs. Thus, our aim is to develop a neural network model with two layers that recognizes verbs accordingly with their lexical parameters. We hypothesize that neurons from Broca's and Wernicke's areas of language work similarly to mirror neurons that fire action potentials both when the actor executes an action or when the actor observes someone else executing the same action. In this way, Broca's area mirror neurons would fire action potentials either during production of motor actions -speaking, signing or writing- that encode a verb, or when Wernicke´s area pre-synaptic neurons are activated by parameters that identify that verb. The input and output neurons will be connected by synapses with spike-timing dependent plasticity to yield mirroring function. Thus, output neurons should fire either to initiate a specific action that they encode or when observing a word that represents that action. The successful network should be able to mimic the cognitive performance of human subjects on a task of verb recognition. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ANTUNES, GABRIELA; FARIA DA SILVA, SAMUEL F.; SIMOES DE SOUZA, FABIO M.. Mirror Neurons Modeled Through Spike-Timing-Dependent Plasticity are Affected by Channelopathies Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder. International Journal of Neural Systems, v. 28, n. 5, SI, JUN 2018. (15/50122-0, 14/08481-0, 16/18825-4)

ANTUNES, G.; SIMOES-DE-SOUZA, F. M.. AMPA receptor trafficking and its role in heterosynaptic plasticity. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 8, JUL 9 2018. (14/08481-0, 16/18825-4, 15/50122-0)

ANTUNES, GABRIELA; SIMOES DE SOUZA, FABIO M.. 3D Modeling of Dendritic Spines with Synaptic Plasticity. JOVE-JOURNAL OF VISUALIZED EXPERIMENTS, n. 159, MAY 2020. (16/18825-4, 18/06504-4, 15/50122-0)

ANTUNES, G.; ROQUE, A. C.; SIMOES-DE-SOUZA, F. M.. Molecular mechanisms of detection and discrimination of dynamic signals. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 8, FEB 6 2018. (14/08481-0, 16/18825-4, 15/50122-0)