ICBM 2013 1Michigan State University

Obama’s Brain Initiative,Opportunities, and

Resistance from the Status QuoJuyang (John) Weng

Computer Sci., Neurosci., Cognitive Sci.Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI 49924 USAweng@msu.edu

ICBM 2013 2Michigan State University

Brain Initiatives

4/2/2013 Obama announced his brain initiative To get a dynamic picture of the brain To better understand how we think, learn and

remember $100M/year plus $94M/year from private partners

EU has announced the Human Brain Project China is preparing its own brain project

ICBM 2013 3Michigan State University

What is Required for the BRAIN Project?

Foremost: address the group intelligence problem

It is not that humans do not have sufficient information about how the brain works

Enough information is out there in the vast literature

Individual humans are “blinded” by the lack of group intelligence in the human race

ICBM 2013 4Michigan State University

Group

Group: Multiple agents that interact closely Natural group:

A company, a nation, humans on the earth Artificial group:

A group of developmental robots that use brain-like emergent representations

Mixed group: With natural and artificial agents

ICBM 2013 5Michigan State University

Group Development: Developed Countries

It is easier for a developed country (e.g., USA) to: Form allies based on superficial friendliness React in a short-sighted way Disregard development as a science

It is also harder for a developed country (e.g., USA) to see a deeper causality:Group developmental program

ICBM 2013 6Michigan State University

Group Development: Developing Countries

It is easier for a developing country to see: Scientific knowledge Advanced technology Wealth Weapons

It is harder for a developing country to see a deeper causality:Group developmental program

ICBM 2013 7Michigan State University

The US President and BRAIN Obama :

“This is a Nation of dreamers and risk-takers.” “We do not just track the best scientists and

entrepreneurs” “We have not unlocked the mystery of 3 pounds of

matter that sits between our ears” “Better understand how we think, how we learn, and

how we remember.” “Presumably our life would be simpler here if it would

explain everything going on in Washington. (laughs)”

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The BRAIN Initiative’s Danger:More Data, More Local Theories

Little Global Theory

ICBM 2013 9Michigan State University

A Mind is a Bag of Tricks?

(Artificial) neural networks are analogical and scruffy.

- Marvin Minsky

ICBM 2013 10Michigan State University

The Brain is Not a Cascade of Areas!

Felleman &Van Essen 1991

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Brain-Mind: A Grand Puzzle

Genome

Neurons

Circuits

Cortex

Pathways

Multi-Scale nature

Experience

Functions

Brain

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Analogy: Power of Newton’s Theory

Newton used them to explain and investigate the motion of many physical objects and systems.

For example,Newton showed that these laws of motion, combined with his law of universal gravitation, explained Kepler's laws of planetary motion.

ICBM 2013 13Michigan State University

Brain-Mind Institute:meant to serve you

andto avoid the danger

ICBM 2013 14Michigan State University

BMI 831Cognitive Science

for Brain-Mind Research

Instructor 2013:Juyang Weng

Brain-Mind Institute

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The material is very rich and interesting …

ICBM 2013 16Michigan State University

BMI 871Introduction to Computational

Brain-Mind Instructor 2013:Juyang Weng

ICBM 2013 17Michigan State University

How a Brain-Mind Works

in Principle(and Experiments)

The Book Tells You …

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The Entire Developmental

Algorithm is about2-Page Long

The Book Shows …

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How? For any FA there is a DN

Weng IJCNN 2010

DN: Developmental Network(Earlier called ED Network)

FA: Finite Automaton

Marvin Minsky at MIT criticized ANNs

ICBM 2013 20Michigan State University

Resistance to Understanding the Brain

From government branches From neuroscience From cognitive science or psychology From computer science From electrical engineering From mathematics

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From Government Branches

“If you do something small, I would fund it.” “People do not like that you do everything (your

work would tell how everything works in the brain schematically).”

Thus, only piece meal, incremental projects have been funded.

But, focused developmental brain modeling and simulation proposals have been wrongly accused “to do everything”.

ICBM 2013 22Michigan State University

From Neuroscience “I am only interested in brain areas A and

B” The brain is incorrectly considered as a

homunculus body that consists of many “organs”

“Thus, each organ is sufficient to be focused on to find its roles.”

Thus, data rich, theory poor However, our brain-scale theory predicts

that there is no brain area whose role can be explained individually!

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From Cognitive Science

Traditionally, focused on subject behaviors

Traditionally, focused on a specific hypothesis

“How the brain works? Not my problem”

Incorrectly assumed that area A does x and y.

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From Computer Science

Misled early on by the Turing Test Misled by Von Neumann computers ARTIFICIAL

INTELLIGENCE should be predominantly "ARTIFICIAL" -- it need not compute by simulating the humanmind.

“If the R&N text is inadequate, then the new Weng book will be even more limiting”

ICBM 2013 25Michigan State University

From Electrical Engineering

Mature theories for linear systems

Immature theories for nonlinear system

Lack of knowledge in artificial intelligence methods

But, the brain is a general-purpose nonlinear system that self-programs

ICBM 2013 26Michigan State University

From Mathematics Typically, mathematicians

are satisfied with proving an open theorem

Importance? Well, let the future sort it out

But the brain is a mathematical problem!

The new brain math will solve many well-known practical math problems

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Great opportunitiesfor all of you!