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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records

Mimicking associative learning using an ion-trapping non-volatile synaptic organic electrochemical transistor

Associative learning, a critical learning principle to improve an individual’s adaptability, has been emulated by few organic electrochemical devices. However, complicated bias schemes, high write voltages, as well as process irreversibility hinder the further development of associative learning circuits. Here, by adopting a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):tosylate/Polytetrahydrofuran composite as the active channel, we present a non-volatile organic electrochemical transistor that shows a write bias less than 0.8 V and retention time longer than 200 min without decoupling the write and read operations. By incorporating a pressure sensor and a photoresistor, a neuromorphic circuit is demonstrated with the ability to associate two physical inputs (light and pressure) instead of normally demonstrated electrical inputs in other associative learning circuits. To unravel the non-volatility of this material, ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering are used to characterize the oxidation level variation, compositional change, and the structural modulation of the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):tosylate/Polytetrahydrofuran films in various conductance states. The implementation of the associative learning circuit as well as the understanding of the non-volatile material represent critical advances for organic electrochemical devices in neuromorphic applications.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Evaluation of Learning Associated with Multiple Exposures to Computerized Dynamic Posturography

Computerized dynamic posturography has been used to quantitatively assess the time course of functional sensorimotor recovery after exposure to spaceflight or to groundbased analogs such as head-down bed rest. An assessment of balance recovery may be confounded as subjects develop new strategies through repeated exposures to test paradigms. The purpose of this control study was to characterize the learning effects of sensory organization and motor control tests across multiple sessions. METHODS: Twenty-eight healthy subjects were tested over four sessions. To examine the effects of between-session interval, subjects were assigned to one of four groups in which the interval between the 1 st and 2nd sessions was 7 (+/- 1) days, 14 (+/-1) days, 28 (+/-2) days, or 56 (+/-3) days. The interval between remaining sessions was 28 (+/-4) days. Peak-to-peak anterior-posterior sway was measured during standard Sensory Organization Tests (SOTs) using either fixed or unstable sway-referenced support with eyes open, eyes closed, or sway-referenced vision. Sway was also measured during modified SOTs using eyes-closed conditions with either static or dynamic head tilts. Postural recovery to unexpected support surface perturbations (translations or rotations) was measured during Motor Control Tests. The test order was block randomized across subjects. RESULTS: The learning effects varied with test condition. There were no measurable differences with a stable support surface. The more challenging conditions (unstable support surface with and without head tilts) led to greater differences and took more trials to stabilize. The effect of time interval between the first two sessions was negligible across conditions. Evidence suggested that learning carried across similar conditions (such as unstable support SOTs). DISCUSSION: Familiarization session and/or trials are recommended to minimize learning effects when characterizing functional recovery after exposure to altered sensory environments. The number of practice trials required depends on task difficulty and similarity across conditions. Learning statement: This presentation will review the learning effects of computerized d

Dean, S. Lance↗

Modeling the behavioral substrates of associate learning and memory - Adaptive neural models

Three adaptive single-neuron models based on neural analogies of behavior modification episodes are proposed, which attempt to bridge the gap between psychology and neurophysiology. The proposed models capture the predictive nature of Pavlovian conditioning, which is essential to the theory of adaptive/learning systems. The models learn to anticipate the occurrence of a conditioned response before the presence of a reinforcing stimulus when training is complete. Furthermore, each model can find the most nonredundant and earliest predictor of reinforcement. The behavior of the models accounts for several aspects of basic animal learning phenomena in Pavlovian conditioning beyond previous related models. Computer simulations show how well the models fit empirical data from various animal learning paradigms.

Lee, Chuen-Chien↗

Identifying intragenic functional modules of genomic variations associated with cancer phenotypes by learning representation of association networks

Background Genome-wide Association Studies (GWAS) aims to uncover the link between genomic variation and phenotype. They have been actively applied in cancer biology to investigate associations between variations and cancer phenotypes, such as susceptibility to certain types of cancer and predisposed responsiveness to specific treatments. Since GWAS primarily focuses on finding associations between individual genomic variations and cancer phenotypes, there are limitations in understanding the mechanisms by which cancer phenotypes are cooperatively affected by more than one genomic variation. Results This paper proposes a network representation learning approach to learn associations among genomic variations using a prostate cancer cohort. The learned associations are encoded into representations that can be used to identify functional modules of genomic variations within genes associated with early- and late-onset prostate cancer. The proposed method was applied to a prostate cancer cohort provided by the Veterans Administration’s Million Veteran Program to identify candidates for functional modules associated with early-onset prostate cancer. The cohort included 33,159 prostate cancer patients, 3181 early-onset patients, and 29,978 late-onset patients. The reproducibility of the proposed approach clearly showed that the proposed approach can improve the model performance in terms of robustness. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to use a network representation learning approach to learn associations among genomic variations within genes. Associations learned in this way can lead to an understanding of the underlying mechanisms of how genomic variations cooperatively affect each cancer phenotype. This method can reveal unknown knowledge in the field of cancer biology and can be utilized to design more advanced cancer-targeted therapies.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Neuromorphic ionic computing in droplet interface synapses

Ionic devices with memory capabilities can emulate neural functionality, enabling neuromorphic computing and biomedical applications. In this study, we report an ionic spiking synapse based on aqueous droplet interface bilayer assembly. Under stepwise triangular voltages, the device displays coupled memcapacitive-memristive behavior, showing noncrossing pinched hysteretic I-V loops. This hysteretic ion dynamics can be regulated by modifying bilayer components, reconstituting protein channels, or adjusting droplet assembly configuration. Droplet interface synapses (DIS) exhibit fundamental neuromorphic behaviors such as paired-pulse facilitation/depression, spike rate–dependent plasticity, Hebbian learning, and short-term associative learning under classical conditioning. We also used reservoir computing with DIS to implement two learning algorithms: a classification algorithm that recognizes handwritten digits and a reinforcement learning algorithm that learns to play a board game of tic-tac-toe.

Li, Zhongwu [Lawrence Livermore National Laborator↗

A Learning Model for L/M Specificity in Ganglion Cells

An unsupervised learning model for developing LM specific wiring at the ganglion cell level would support the research indicating LM specific wiring at the ganglion cell level (Reid and Shapley, 2002). Removing the contributions to the surround from cells of the same cone type improves the signal-to-noise ratio of the chromatic signals. The unsupervised learning model used is Hebbian associative learning, which strengthens the surround input connections according to the correlation of the output with the input. Since the surround units of the same cone type as the center are redundant with the center, their weights end up disappearing. This process can be thought of as a general mechanism for eliminating unnecessary cells in the nervous system.

Ahumada, Albert J.↗

A Comparison of Machine Learning Methods of Association Tested on Dense Nodal Arrays

The association of phase picks to form events is one of the fundamental components of seismology. Large and dense sensor networks, such as >1000 geophone arrays (and distributed acoustic sensing), offer unique challenges in association due to the vast numbers of observations and high likelihood of errant picks. In addition, the large number of stations can greatly increase the time it takes to perform the association. For this reason, machine learning (ML) methods might provide a more optimal method of association for such networks. In this work, we examine how well ML methods (e.g., Gaussian mixture model association, PhaseLink, and Graph Earthquake Neural Interpretation Engine) can incorporate dense seismic arrays into regional networks and how well they handle the increasing numbers of stations. Here, we test their capabilities on two dense seismic deployments, one within Rock Valley Nevada (52 nodes and a 9-station sparse local network), and the LArge-n Seismic Survey in Oklahoma dense nodal array (>1800 vertical-component geophones). Processing data from these two different styles of dense seismic deployments allows testing of how the ML algorithms can merge array data with a broader regional network, how they deal with poorly picked phases, and how they handle anthropogenic noise. We compare the ML-associated bulletins to those obtained using the Rapid Earthquake Association and Location algorithm, a more traditional method of association. We find that there are very small differences in results between the methods for small networks (<100 stations) with low pick rates. For large networks (>1000), there are enough errant picks that some of the ML methods start to create false events out of noise. We also find that the ML methods vary in computation time significantly but are all faster than the traditional method tested here.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Learnability of Red-Green Opponency

Lennie, Haake, and Williams found that in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), parvocellular unit responses are consistent with the hypothesis that their input connectivity is blind to the difference between middle-wavelength-sensitive (MWS) and long-wavelength-sensitive (LWS) cones. Most of their cells have a total MWS input weight opposite in sign and similar in magnitude to their total LWS input weight. If these weights are exactly balanced, the construction of a red-green opponent system from such units is simple: such units need only be aligned so the signs of their outputs agree. Ahumada and Mulligan described an associative learning process which can accomplish this alignment. If the units are not balanced (carry some luminance information), the strong overlap between the MWS and LWS spectral responses can cause units to agree more on the basis of luminance, and the associative process fails to produce red-green opponency. The learning theory requires that the LGN units be nearly balanced (more strongly encode chromaticity than luminance) and quantitatively expresses the requirement: the principal component of the LGN outputs must be in the red-green rather than the luminance direction. We show that the cone weights of the monkey LGN cells measured by Derrington, Krauskopf, and Lennie can satisfy this learnability criterion even if the MWS spectral response is close to the LWS spectral response, simulating anomalous trichromacy. The learnability theory provides a source of visual system variation for explaining why different anomalous trichromats may make the same average anomaloscope match (same pigments), but have either narrow (good opponent learning) or wide (poor learning) ranges of acceptable matches.

Ahumada, Albert J., Jr.↗

Formation and retrieval of cell assemblies in a biologically realistic spiking neural network model of area CA3 in the mouse hippocampus

The hippocampal formation is critical for episodic memory, with area Cornu Ammonis 3 (CA3) a necessary substrate for auto-associative pattern completion. Recent theoretical and experimental evidence suggests that the formation and retrieval of cell assemblies enable these functions. Yet, how cell assemblies are formed and retrieved in a full-scale spiking neural network (SNN) of CA3 that incorporates the observed diversity of neurons and connections within this circuit is not well understood. Here, we demonstrate that a data-driven SNN model quantitatively reflecting the neuron type-specific population sizes, intrinsic electrophysiology, connectivity statistics, synaptic signaling, and long-term plasticity of the mouse CA3 is capable of robust auto-association and pattern completion via cell assemblies. Our results show that a broad range of assembly sizes could successfully and systematically retrieve patterns from heavily incomplete or corrupted cues after a limited number of presentations. Furthermore, performance was robust with respect to partial overlap of assemblies through shared cells, substantially enhancing memory capacity. These novel findings provide computational evidence that the specific biological properties of the CA3 circuit produce an effective neural substrate for associative learning in the mammalian brain.

hetero-association↗

CRCNS22 Learning Rules in the Hippocampus and their Mapping to Neuromorphic Systems (Final Technical Report)

Large scale biologically-realistic computational models are key to investigating the interplay between structure and function in nervous systems, thus paving the way to new clinical methods and neuro-inspired computing solutions. This project focuses on the hippocampus, in particular the CA3-CA1 regions, due to their role in associative learning and memory, pattern separation and completion, and spatial navigation. Investigations into the neuronal organization and learning rule(s) of this circuit can shed light into how declarative memories are formed, stored, recalled and forgotten and inform computational, experimental and clinical neuroscience work. Our project aims at developing a novel data-driven methodology supported by a broad heterogeneous base of neuroscience experimental knowledge and inspired from advances in computer science and engineering. Specifically, this work will benchmark existing and new learning rules within a full-scale spiking neural network simulation of the CA3-CA1 region. The model will be based on an open-source repository, called the Hippocampome, which contains neuronal morphologies, firing patterns, synapse probabilities, and most other required parameters for all known neuron types in the rodent hippocampal formation. The model will be first trained in a supervised fashion for associative memory tasks using backpropagation through time traditionally used in computer science, enhanced with a new technique called the surrogate gradient method. This optimization method will be used to obtain a global loss minimization, but it is not biologically inspired as it assumes the use of data not locally available to the synapses. However, we propose its use as a benchmarking tool, to compare the training performance of local biologically plausible and hardware-mappable learning rules at scale. New rules or combinations will be proposed and tested as needed, based on the obtained results. Progress in this area will also drive the development of novel hardware-mappable algorithms for continual lifelong learning and categorization of new events from few presented examples. This project goes beyond the existing state-of-the-art by looking at large scale realistic neuronal circuits as networks trainable via global optimization methods such as surrogate gradient descent. The objective function of the brain that supports learning is largely unknown, but it is likely that it operates through local learning rules. Studying network trajectories around local minima as proposed in this work represents a useful strategy for understanding whether a network is training by using a specific (set of) learning rule(s). Starting from a completely untrained network is a challenging test since it is difficult to determine how the learning rule affects the trajectory of the network. This interdisciplinary project will help understand what rule governs learning in these regions or if multiple learning rules are involved. The work will develop a robust methodology to measure if the network is converging to the target solution, oscillating around it, or diverging away.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Organismic materials for beyond von Neumann machines

The elementary basis of intelligence in organisms with a central nervous system includes neurons and synapses and their complex interconnections forming neural circuits. In non-neural organisms such as slime mold with gel-like media, viscosity modulation enables adaptation to changing environments. At a larger scale, collective intelligence emerges via social interactions and feedback in animal colonies. Learning and memory are therefore multi-scale features that evolve as a result of constant interactions with the environment. There is growing interest in emulating such features of intelligence in computing machines and autonomous systems. Materials that can respond to their environment in a manner similar to organisms (referred to as "organismic materials") therefore may be of interest as hardware components in artificial intelligence machines. In this brief review, we present a class of semiconductors called correlated oxides as candidates for learning machines. The term "correlated" refers to the fact that electrons in such lattices strongly interact and the ground state is not what is predicted by classical band theory. Such materials can undergo insulator-metal transitions at near ambient conditions under external stimuli such as thermal or electrical fields, strain, and chemical doping. Depending on the mechanism driving the transition, intermediate states can be metastable with different volatilities, and the time scales of phase change can be controlled over many orders of magnitude. The change in electronic properties can be sharp or gradual, leading to digital or analog behavior. These properties enable the realization of artificial neurons and synapses and emulate the associative and non-associative learning characteristics found in various organisms. We examine microscopic properties concerning electronic and structural transitions leading to collective behavior and theoretical treatments of the ground state and dynamical response, showcasing VO 2 as a model system. Next, we briefly review algorithms designed from the plasticity demonstrated by phase changing systems. Finally, we conclude the brief review with suggestions for future research toward realizing non-von Neumann machines.

42 ENGINEERING↗

CRCNS US-France Research Proposal: Collaborative Research: Encoding reward expectation in Drosophilia

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has been a valuable model for investigating the genetic and neural bases that underlie learning and memory. Early and most current studies use basic behavior conditioning protocols to study learning in controlled laboratory settings. More recently, the ability to transgenically manipulate many of the brain neurons in the fruit fly with exquisite specificity, and the recent knowledge of the synaptic ‘connectome’ of the fruit fly brain, makes these animals almost unique as a comprehensive model for studies of learning, memory and motivated behavior. In fact, the connectome has revealed many types of new connections that had until now been overlooked. Within this context, the thesis of this proposal is that studies of learning and memory will be greatly enhanced by using more sophisticated means for evaluating memory representations, such as have been developed in vertebrates, and combining those studies with information from the connectome guided by computational modelling. We propose to push beyond the boundaries of existing conditioning protocols for fruit flies to investigate more complex memory representations. In particular, we will investigate the function of reinforcement pathways in relation to the absence of expected reinforcement. More specifically, we propose a series of experiments designed to investigate the memory representations in fruit flies when an expected consequence of a Conditioned Stimulus (CS) fails to occur. Although studies have evaluated how this failure can establish extinction memory for the CS, our studies will go beyond studying extinction. Specifically, we predict that in Drosophila when a CS is associated with a failed expectation of an appetitive food reinforcement it will acquire aversive value, and vice versa for a failed expectation of an aversive reinforcer. We combine these studies with manipulations of reinforcement pathways in the CNS inspired from the connectome, iteratively knitted in with established computational models. Intellectual Merit: The concept of reinforcement expectation and incentive contrast have been influential in the development of studies of associative learning in mammals. These questions are particularly challenging to answer in vertebrates because they require exquisite cellular, temporal, and genetic specificity of experimental manipulations. The recent development of work with identified neurons and their connectomes makes the larval and adult fly brains ripe as models for pushing our understanding of neural bases for these higher- order conditioning phenomena. Broader Impacts: Public health: These analyses and the conceptual framework of prediction error processing underlying them have a profound impact on our understanding of reinforcement-related behavior in humans, including monetary rewards and the mnemonic consequences of traumatic experiences, and for pathologies of the dopamine reinforcement system. Educational: This project will provide interdisciplinary training for postdoctoral researchers, Ph.D. and undergraduate students. The PIs will act as co-supervisors or mentors of students working in the different labs via face-to-face and internet-based technologies. We will also work with ASU’s award-winning Ask- A-Biologist program. This is an online science program designed to enrich the learning experiences of students of all ages and to provide classroom material for use by K-12 teachers. We will develop an extension of a game developed under a prior NSF award, and the new game will include modules to teach K-12 students about how insects learn. We will also integrate into the AAB site a program developed by a collaborator (B Gerber) at the Leibniz Institut für Neurobiologie, Magdeburg, and now in use in schools in Germany, to teach K-12 students how to train animals using the fruit fly larval learning paradigm. Underrepresented groups: All PIs will work with their university offices of Academic Diversity and Equal Opportunity for reaching underrepresented students.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

SLS Navigation Model-Based Design Approach

The SLS Program chose to implement a Model-based Design and Model-based Requirements approach for managing component design information and system requirements. This approach differs from previous large-scale design efforts at Marshall Space Flight Center where design documentation alone conveyed information required for vehicle design and analysis and where extensive requirements sets were used to scope and constrain the design. The SLS Navigation Team has been responsible for the Program-controlled Design Math Models (DMMs) which describe and represent the performance of the Inertial Navigation System (INS) and the Rate Gyro Assemblies (RGAs) used by Guidance, Navigation, and Controls (GN&C). The SLS Navigation Team is also responsible for the navigation algorithms. The navigation algorithms are delivered for implementation on the flight hardware as a DMM. For the SLS Block 1-B design, the additional GPS Receiver hardware is managed as a DMM at the vehicle design level. This paper provides a discussion of the processes and methods used to engineer, design, and coordinate engineering trades and performance assessments using SLS practices as applied to the GN&C system, with a particular focus on the Navigation components. These include composing system requirements, requirements verification, model development, model verification and validation, and modeling and analysis approaches. The Model-based Design and Requirements approach does not reduce the effort associated with the design process versus previous processes used at Marshall Space Flight Center. Instead, the approach takes advantage of overlap between the requirements development and management process, and the design and analysis process by efficiently combining the control (i.e. the requirement) and the design mechanisms. The design mechanism is the representation of the component behavior and performance in design and analysis tools. The focus in the early design process shifts from the development and management of design requirements to the development of usable models, model requirements, and model verification and validation efforts. The models themselves are represented in C/C++ code and accompanying data files. Under the idealized process, potential ambiguity in specification is reduced because the model must be implementable versus a requirement which is not necessarily subject to this constraint. Further, the models are shown to emulate the hardware during validation. For models developed by the Navigation Team, a common interface/standalone environment was developed. The common environment allows for easy implementation in design and analysis tools. Mechanisms such as unit test cases ensure implementation as the developer intended. The model verification and validation process provides a very high level of component design insight. The origin and implementation of the SLS variant of Model-based Design is described from the perspective of the SLS Navigation Team. The format of the models and the requirements are described. The Model-based Design approach has many benefits but is not without potential complications. Key lessons learned associated with the implementation of the Model Based Design approach and process from infancy to verification and certification are discussed

Oliver, T. Emerson↗

Synaptic Functionality and Neuromorphic Information Processing in Membrane Ion Channel Junctions

The human brain performs complex memory and computational tasks with high energy efficiency by regulating ion transport through membrane channels. These signaling mechanisms have been inspiring the development of nanofluidic memristors that emulate synaptic behavior. Here, in this study, we describe a membrane ion channel synapse (MICS), constructed from aqueous droplets linked by gramicidin A channels, that achieves neuromorphic functionality. MICS exhibits memristive ion transport with hysteretic current–voltage behavior arising from voltage-dependent channel formation and ion transport dynamics. MICS emulates a range of synaptic behaviors including associative learning. We further demonstrate its application in reservoir computing by performing handwritten digit classification and tic-tac-toe game and explore the system parameters that improve the computational performance. This droplet-based biomimetic synapse offers a potentially scalable and energy-efficient platform for next-generation neuromorphic computing systems.

Droplet interface bilayer↗

Heterosynaptic plasticity in biomembrane memristors controlled by pH

Abstract In biology, heterosynaptic plasticity maintains homeostasis in synaptic inputs during associative learning and memory, and initiates long-term changes in synaptic strengths that nonspecifically modulate different synapse types. In bioinspired neuromorphic circuits, heterosynaptic plasticity may be used to extend the functionality of two-terminal, biomimetic memristors. In this article, we explore how changes in the pH of droplet interface bilayer aqueous solutions modulate the memristive responses of a lipid bilayer membrane in the pH range 4.97–7.40. Surprisingly, we did not find conclusive evidence for pH-dependent shifts in the voltage thresholds ( V* ) needed for alamethicin ion channel formation in the membrane. However, we did observe a clear modulation in the dynamics of pore formation with pH in time-dependent, pulsed voltage experiments. Moreover, at the same voltage, lowering the pH resulted in higher steady-state currents because of increased numbers of conductive peptide ion channels in the membrane. This was due to increased partitioning of alamethicin monomers into the membrane at pH 4.97, which is below the pKa (~5.3–5.7) of carboxylate groups on the glutamate residues of the peptide, making the monomers more hydrophobic. Neutralization of the negative charges on these residues, under acidic conditions, increased the concentration of peptide monomers in the membrane, shifting the equilibrium concentrations of peptide aggregate assemblies in the membrane to favor greater numbers of larger, increasingly more conductive pores. It also increased the relaxation time constants for pore formation and decay, and enhanced short-term facilitation and depression of the switching characteristics of the device. Modulating these thresholds globally and independently of alamethicin concentration and applied voltage will enable the assembly of neuromorphic computational circuitry with enhanced functionality. Impact statement We describe how to use pH as a modulatory “interneuron” that changes the voltage-dependent memristance of alamethicin ion channels in lipid bilayers by changing the structure and dynamical properties of the bilayer. Having the ability to independently control the threshold levels for pore conduction from voltage or ion channel concentration enables additional levels of programmability in a neuromorphic system. In this article, we note that barriers to conduction from membrane-bound ion channels can be lowered by reducing solution pH, resulting in higher currents, and enhanced short-term learning behavior in the form of paired-pulse facilitation. Tuning threshold values with environmental variables, such as pH, provide additional training and learning algorithms that can be used to elicit complex functionality within spiking neural networks. Graphical abstract

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗