Neural Systems

Question 1

Describe the two biggest projects currently researching into the human brain.

Answer 1

Brain Initiative - £300m initiative that is exploring how the brain records, processes, uses, stores and receives information. Developing new technologies to determine how brain cells and circuits interact.

The Human Brain Project - £1bn initiative that is exploring the structure and organisation of the human brain (including learning, memory, attention and goal-oriented behaviour).

Question 2

What is a neuron?

Answer 2

Electrically excitable cells that receive, process and transmit information through electrical and chemical systems.

Question 3

What is an axon?

Answer 3

Nerve fibres that conduct electrical impulses away from the nerve cell body, transmitting them to different neurons, muscles and glands.

Question 4

What is a dendrite?

Answer 4

They receive electrical impulses from axons to transmit information to other nerve cells in the body.

Question 5

What is a synapse?

Answer 5

Electrical or chemical structures that allow neurons to transmit electrical or chemical signals to other neurons (composed of axons and dendrites).

Question 6

Give some societal considerations with machine learning.

Answer 6

1. Interpretability - can we create powerful machine learning systems where the reasons for decisions are fully understood?
2. Privacy - how can we maintain privacy of datasets?
3. Security - how do we make sure these systems are not vulnerable to cyber attack?
4. Causality - how can they discover cause-effect relationships?
5. Fairness - how can real-world data be put into useable forms?

Question 7

Give some applications for neural networks.

Answer 7

Four main areas are classification, prediction, clustering and association.

1. Speech recognition
2. Image compression
3. Stock market predictions
4. Autonomous vehicles