Publications | Empirical Inference - Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems

62 results (View BibTeX file of all listed publications)

2010

Similarities in resting state and feature-driven activity: Non-parametric evaluation of human fMRI

Shelton, J., Blaschko, M., Gretton, A., Müller, J., Fischer, E., Bartels, A.

NIPS Workshop on Learning and Planning from Batch Time Series Data, December 2010 (poster)

2010

Shelton, J., Blaschko, M., Gretton, A., Müller, J., Fischer, E., Bartels, A. Similarities in resting state and feature-driven activity: Non-parametric evaluation of human fMRI NIPS Workshop on Learning and Planning from Batch Time Series Data, December 2010 (poster)

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Augmentation of fMRI Data Analysis using Resting State Activity and Semi-supervised Canonical Correlation Analysis

Shelton, JA., Blaschko, MB., Bartels, A.

NIPS Women in Machine Learning Workshop (WiML), December 2010 (poster)

Abstract

Resting state activity is brain activation that arises in the absence of any task, and is usually measured in awake subjects during prolonged fMRI scanning sessions where the only instruction given is to close the eyes and do nothing. It has been recognized in recent years that resting state activity is implicated in a wide variety of brain function. While certain networks of brain areas have different levels of activation at rest and during a task, there is nevertheless significant similarity between activations in the two cases. This suggests that recordings of resting state activity can be used as a source of unlabeled data to augment kernel canonical correlation analysis (KCCA) in a semisupervised setting. We evaluate this setting empirically yielding three main results: (i) KCCA tends to be improved by the use of Laplacian regularization even when no additional unlabeled data are available, (ii) resting state data seem to have a similar marginal distribution to that recorded during the execution of a visual processing task implying largely similar types of activation, and (iii) this source of information can be broadly exploited to improve the robustness of empirical inference in fMRI studies, an inherently data poor domain.

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Shelton, JA., Blaschko, MB., Bartels, A. Augmentation of fMRI Data Analysis using Resting State Activity and Semi-supervised Canonical Correlation Analysis NIPS Women in Machine Learning Workshop (WiML), December 2010 (poster)

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High frequency phase-spike synchronization of extracellular signals modulates causal interactions in monkey primary visual cortex

Besserve, M., Murayama, Y., Schölkopf, B., Logothetis, N., Panzeri, S.

40(616.2), 40th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (Neuroscience), November 2010 (poster)

Abstract

Functional correlates of Rhythms in the gamma band (30-100Hz) are observed in the mammalian brain with a large variety of functional correlates. Nevertheless, their functional role is still debated. One way to disentangle this issue is to go beyond usual correlation analysis and apply causality measures that quantify the directed interactions between the gamma rhythms and other aspects of neural activity. These measures can be further compared with other aspects of neurophysicological signals to find markers of neural interactions. In a recent study, we analyzed extracellular recordings in the primary visual cortex of 4 anesthetized macaques during the presentation of movie stimuli using a causality measure named Transfer Entropy. We found causal interactions between high frequency gamma rhythms (60-100Hz) recorded in different electrodes, involving in particular their phase, and between the gamma phase and spiking activity quantified by the instantaneous envelope of the MUA band (1-3kHz). Here, we further investigate in the same dataset the meaning of these phase-MUA and phase-phase causal interactions by studying the distribution of phases at multiple recording sites at lags around the occurrence of spiking events. First, we found a sharpening of the gamma phase distribution in one electrode when spikes are occurring in other recording site. This phenomena appeared as a form of phase-spike synchronization and was quantified by an information theoretic measure. We found this measure correlates significantly with phase-MUA causal interactions. Additionally, we quantified in a similar way the interplay between spiking and the phase difference between two recording sites (reflecting the well-know concept of phase synchronization). We found that, depending on the couple of recording site, spiking can correlate either with a phase synchronization or with a desynchronization with respect to the baseline. This effect correlates very well with the phase-phase causality measure. These results provide evidence for high frequency phase-spike synchronization to reflect communication between distant neural populations in V1. Conversely, both phase synchronization or desynchronization may favor neural communication between recording sites. This new result, which contrasts with current hypothesis on the role of phase synchronization, could be interpreted as the presence of inhibitory interactions that are suppressed by desynchronization. Finally, our findings give new insights into the role of gamma rhythms in regulating local computation in the visual cortex.

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Besserve, M., Murayama, Y., Schölkopf, B., Logothetis, N., Panzeri, S. High frequency phase-spike synchronization of extracellular signals modulates causal interactions in monkey primary visual cortex 40(616.2), 40th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (Neuroscience), November 2010 (poster)

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Attenuation Correction for Whole Body PET/MR: Quantitative Evaluation and Lung Attenuation Estimation with Consistency Information

Bezrukov, I., Hofmann, M., Aschoff, P., Beyer, T., Mantlik, F., Pichler, B., Schölkopf, B.

2010(M13-122), 2010 Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS-MIC), November 2010 (poster)

[BibTex]

Bezrukov, I., Hofmann, M., Aschoff, P., Beyer, T., Mantlik, F., Pichler, B., Schölkopf, B. Attenuation Correction for Whole Body PET/MR: Quantitative Evaluation and Lung Attenuation Estimation with Consistency Information 2010(M13-122), 2010 Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS-MIC), November 2010 (poster)

[BibTex]

PET/MRI: Observation of Non-Isotropic Positron Distribution in High Magnetic Fields and Its Diagnostic Impact

Kolb, A., Hofmann, M., Sauter, A., Liu, C., Schölkopf, B., Pichler, B.

2010 Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, 2010(M18-119):1, November 2010 (poster)

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Kolb, A., Hofmann, M., Sauter, A., Liu, C., Schölkopf, B., Pichler, B. PET/MRI: Observation of Non-Isotropic Positron Distribution in High Magnetic Fields and Its Diagnostic Impact 2010 Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, 2010(M18-119):1, November 2010 (poster)

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Probabilistic Assignment of Chemical Shift Data for Semi-Automatic Amino Acid Recognition

Hooge, J.

11(10):30, 11th Conference of Junior Neuroscientists of T{\"u}bingen (NeNa), October 2010 (poster)

Abstract

manner. First the backbone resonances are assigned. This is usually achieved from sequential information provided by three chemical shifts: CA, CB and C’. Once the sequence is solved, the second assignment step takes place. For this purpose, the CA-CB and HA chemical shifts are used as a start point for assignment of the side chain resonances, thus connecting the backbone resonances to their respective side chains. This strategy is unfortunately limited by the size of the protein due to increasing signal overlap and missing signals. Therefore, amino acid recognition is in many cases not possible as the CA-CB chemical shift pattern is not sufficient to discriminate between the 20 amino acids. As a result, the first step of the strategy described above remains tedious and time consuming. The combination of modern NMR techniques with new spectrometers now provide information that was not always accessible in the past, due to sensitivity problems. These experiments can be applied efficiently to measure a protein size up to 45 kDa and furthermore provide a unique combination of sequential carbon spin system information. The assignment process can thus benefit from a maximum knowledge input, containing âallâ backbone and side chain chemical shifts as well as an immediate amino acid recognition from the side chain spin system. We propose to extend the software PASTA (Protein ASsignment by Threshold Accepting) to achieve a general sequential assignment of backbone and side-chain resonances in a semi- to fullautomatic per-residue approach. PASTA will offer the possibility to achieve the sequential assignment using any kind of chemical shifts (carbons and/or protons) that can provide sequential information combined with an amino acid recognition feature based on carbon spin system analysis.

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Hooge, J. Probabilistic Assignment of Chemical Shift Data for Semi-Automatic Amino Acid Recognition 11(10):30, 11th Conference of Junior Neuroscientists of T{\"u}bingen (NeNa), October 2010 (poster)

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Generalizing Demonstrated Actions in Manipulation Tasks

Kroemer, O., Detry, R., Piater, J., Peters, J.

IROS 2010 Workshop on Grasp Planning and Task Learning by Imitation, 2010, pages: 1, October 2010 (poster)

Abstract

Programming-by-demonstration promises to significantly reduce the burden of coding robots to perform new tasks. However, service robots will be presented with a variety of different situations that were not specifically demonstrated to it. In such cases, the robot must autonomously generalize its learned motions to these new situations. We propose a system that can generalize movements to new target locations and even new objects. The former is achieved by using a task-specific coordinate system together with dynamical systems motor primitives. Generalizing actions to new objects is a more complex problem, which we solve by treating it as a continuum-armed bandits problem. Using the bandits framework, we can efficiently optimize the learned action for a specific object. The proposed method was implemented on a real robot and succesfully adapted the grasping action to three different objects. Although we focus on grasping as an example of a task, the proposed methods are much more widely applicable to robot manipulation tasks.

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Kroemer, O., Detry, R., Piater, J., Peters, J. Generalizing Demonstrated Actions in Manipulation Tasks IROS 2010 Workshop on Grasp Planning and Task Learning by Imitation, 2010, pages: 1, October 2010 (poster)

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Inhomogeneous Positron Range Effects in High Magnetic Fields might Cause Severe Artefacts in PET/MRI

Kolb, A., Hofmann, M., Sauter, A., Liu, C., Eriksson, L., Pichler, B.

(0305B), 2010 World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC), September 2010 (poster)

Abstract

The combination of PET and MRI is an emerging field of current research. It is known that the positron range is shortened in high magnetic fields (MF), leading to an improved resolution in PET images. Interestingly, only the fraction of positron range (PR) orthogonal to the MF is reduced and the fraction along the MF is not affected and yields to a non-isotropic count distribution. We measured the PR effect with PET isotopes like F-18, Cu-64, C-11, N-13 and Ga-68. A piece of paper (1 cm2) was soaked with each isotope and placed in the cFOV of a clinical 3T BrainPET/MR scanner. A polyethylene board (PE) was placed as a positron (β+) stopper with an axial distance of 3 cm from the soaked paper. The area under the peaks of one pixel wide profiles along the z-axis in coronal images was compared. Based on these measurements we confirmed our data in organic tissue. A larynx/trachea and lung of a butchered swine were injected with a mixture of NiSO4 for T1 MRI signals and Ga-68, simulating tumor lesions in the respiratory tract. The trachea/larynx were aligned in 35° to the MF lines and a small mass lesion was inserted to imitate a primary tracheal tumor whereas the larynx was injected submucosally in the lower medial part of the epiglottis. Reconstructed PET data show that the annihilated ratio of β+ at the origin position and in the PE depends on the isotope energy and the direction of the MF. The annihilation ratios of the source and PE are 52.4/47.6 (F-18), 57.5/42.5 (Cu-64), 43.7/56.7 (C-11), 31.1/68.9 (N-13) and 14.9/85.1 (Ga-68). In the swine larynx measurement, an artefact with approximately 39% of the lesion activity formed along MF lines 3cm away from the original injected position (fig.1). The data of the trachea showed two shine artefacts with a symmetric alignment along the MF lines. About 58% of the positrons annihilated at the lesion and 21% formed each artefact. The PR effects areminor in tissue of higher or equal density to water (0.096 cm-1). However, the effect is severe in low density tissue or air and might lead to misinterpretation of clinical data.

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Kolb, A., Hofmann, M., Sauter, A., Liu, C., Eriksson, L., Pichler, B. Inhomogeneous Positron Range Effects in High Magnetic Fields might Cause Severe Artefacts in PET/MRI (0305B), 2010 World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC), September 2010 (poster)

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Reinforcement Learning by Relative Entropy Policy Search

Peters, J., Mülling, K., Altun, Y.

30th International Workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering (MaxEnt 2010), 30, pages: 69, July 2010 (poster)

Abstract

Policy search is a successful approach to reinforcement learning. However, policy improvements often result in the loss of information. Hence, it has been marred by premature convergence and implausible solutions. As first suggested in the context of covariant policy gradients, many of these problems may be addressed by constraining the information loss. In this book chapter, we continue this path of reasoning and suggest the Relative Entropy Policy Search (REPS) method. The resulting method differs significantly from previous policy gradient approaches and yields an exact update step. It works well on typical reinforcement learning benchmark problems. We will also present a real-world applications where a robot employs REPS to learn how to return balls in a game of table tennis.

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Peters, J., Mülling, K., Altun, Y. Reinforcement Learning by Relative Entropy Policy Search 30th International Workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering (MaxEnt 2010), 30, pages: 69, July 2010 (poster)

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A Maximum Entropy Approach to Semi-supervised Learning

Erkan, A., Altun, Y.

30th International Workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering (MaxEnt 2010), 30, pages: 80, July 2010 (poster)

Abstract

Maximum entropy (MaxEnt) framework has been studied extensively in supervised learning. Here, the goal is to find a distribution p that maximizes an entropy function while enforcing data constraints so that the expected values of some (pre-defined) features with respect to p match their empirical counterparts approximately. Using different entropy measures, different model spaces for p and different approximation criteria for the data constraints yields a family of discriminative supervised learning methods (e.g., logistic regression, conditional random fields, least squares and boosting). This framework is known as the generalized maximum entropy framework. Semi-supervised learning (SSL) has emerged in the last decade as a promising field that combines unlabeled data along with labeled data so as to increase the accuracy and robustness of inference algorithms. However, most SSL algorithms to date have had trade-offs, e.g., in terms of scalability or applicability to multi-categorical data. We extend the generalized MaxEnt framework to develop a family of novel SSL algorithms. Extensive empirical evaluation on benchmark data sets that are widely used in the literature demonstrates the validity and competitiveness of the proposed algorithms.

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Erkan, A., Altun, Y. A Maximum Entropy Approach to Semi-supervised Learning 30th International Workshop on Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering (MaxEnt 2010), 30, pages: 80, July 2010 (poster)

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The effect of positioning aids on PET quantification following MR-based attenuation correction (AC) in PET/MR imaging

Mantlik, F., Hofmann, M., Kupferschläger, J., Werner, M., Pichler, B., Beyer, T.

Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 51(Supplement 2):1418 , June 2010 (poster)

Abstract

Objectives: We study the quantitative effect of not accounting for the attenuation of patient positioning aids in combined PET/MR imaging. Methods: Positioning aids cannot be detected with conventional MR sequences. We mimic this effect using PET/CT data (Biograph HiRez16) with the foams removed from CT images prior to using them for CT-AC. PET/CT data were acquired using standard parameters (phantoms/patients): 120/140 kVp, 30/250 mAs, 5 mm slices, OSEM (4i, 8s, 5 mm filter) following CT-AC. First, a uniform 68Ge-cylinder was positioned centrally in the PET/CT and fixed with a vacuum mattress (10 cm thick). Second, the same cylinder was placed in 3 positioning aids from the PET/MR (BrainPET-3T). Third, 5 head/neck patients who were fixed in a vacuum mattress were selected. In all 3 studies PET recon post CT-AC based on measured CT images was used as the reference (mCT-AC). The PET/MR set-up was mimicked by segmenting the foam inserts from the measured CT images and setting their voxel values to -1000 HU (air). PET images were reconstructed using CT-AC with the segmented CT images (sCT-AC). PET images with mCT- and sCT-AC were compared. Results: sCT-AC underestimated PET voxel values in the phantom by 6.7% on average compared to mCT-AC with the vacuum mattress in place. 5% of the PET voxels were underestimated by >=10%. Not accounting for MR positioning aids during AC led to an underestimation of 2.8% following sCT-AC, with 5% of the PET voxels being underestimated by >=7% wrt mCT-AC. Preliminary evaluation of the patient data indicates a slightly higher bias from not accounting for patient positioning aids (mean: -9.1%, 5% percentile: -11.2%). Conclusions: A considerable and regionally variable underestimation of the PET activity following AC is observed when positioning aids are not accounted for. This bias may become relevant in neurological activation or dementia studies with PET/MR

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Mantlik, F., Hofmann, M., Kupferschläger, J., Werner, M., Pichler, B., Beyer, T. The effect of positioning aids on PET quantification following MR-based attenuation correction (AC) in PET/MR imaging Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 51(Supplement 2):1418 , June 2010 (poster)

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Multi-task Learning for Zero Training Brain-Computer Interfaces

Alamgir, M., Grosse-Wentrup, M., Altun, Y.

4th International BCI Meeting, June 2010 (poster)

Abstract

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are limited in their applicability in everyday settings by the current necessity to record subject-specific calibration data prior to actual use of the BCI for communication. In this work, we utilize the framework of multitask learning to construct a BCI that can be used without any subject-specific calibration process, i.e., with zero training data. In BCIs based on EEG or MEG, the predictive function of a subject's intention is commonly modeled as a linear combination of some features derived from spatial and spectral recordings. The coefficients of this combination correspond to the importance of the features for predicting the intention of the subject. These coefficients are usually learned separately for each subject due to inter-subject variability. Principle feature characteristics, however, are known to remain invariant across subject. For example, it is well known that in motor imagery paradigms spectral power in the mu- and beta frequency ranges (roughly 8-14 Hz and 20-30 Hz, respectively) over sensorimotor areas provides most information on a subject's intention. Based on this assumption, we define the intention prediction function as a combination of subject-invariant and subject-specific models, and propose a machine learning method that infers these models jointly using data from multiple subjects. This framework leads to an out-of-the-box intention predictor, where the subject-invariant model can be employed immediately for a subject with no prior data. We present a computationally efficient method to further improve this BCI to incorporate subject-specific variations as such data becomes available. To overcome the problem of high dimensional feature spaces in this context, we further present a new method for finding the relevance of different recording channels according to actions performed by subjects. Usually, the BCI feature representation is a concatenation of spectral features extracted from different channels. This representation, however, is redundant, as recording channels at different spatial locations typically measure overlapping sources within the brain due to volume conduction. We address this problem by assuming that the relevance of different spectral bands is invariant across channels, while learning different weights for each recording electrode. This framework allows us to significantly reduce the feature space dimensionality without discarding potentially useful information. Furthermore, the resulting out-of-the-box BCI can be adapted to different experimental setups, for example EEG caps with different numbers of channels, as long as there exists a mapping across channels in different setups. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach on a set of experimental EEG data recorded during a standard two-class motor imagery paradigm from a total of ten healthy subjects. Specifically, we show that satisfactory classification results can be achieved with zero training data, and that combining prior recordings with subject-specific calibration data substantially outperforms using subject-specific data only.

Web [BibTex]

Alamgir, M., Grosse-Wentrup, M., Altun, Y. Multi-task Learning for Zero Training Brain-Computer Interfaces 4th International BCI Meeting, June 2010 (poster)

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Causal Influence of Gamma Oscillations on Performance in Brain-Computer Interfaces

Grosse-Wentrup, M., Hill, J., Schölkopf, B.

4th International BCI Meeting0, June 2010 (poster)

Abstract

Background and Objective: While machine learning approaches have led to tremendous advances in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) in recent years (cf. [1]), there still exists a large variation in performance across subjects. Furthermore, a significant proportion of subjects appears incapable of achieving above chance-level classification accuracy [2], which to date includes all subjects in a completely locked-in state that have been trained in BCI control. Understanding the reasons for this variation in performance arguably constitutes one of the most fundamental open questions in research on BCIs. Methods & Results Using a machine learning approach, we derive a trial-wise measure of how well EEG recordings can be classified as either left- or right-hand motor imagery. Specifically, we train a support vector machine (SVM) on log-bandpower features (7-40 Hz) derived from EEG channels after spatial filtering with a surface Laplacian, and then compute the trial-wise distance of the output of the SVM from the separating hyperplane using a cross-validation procedure. We then correlate this trial-wise performance measure, computed on EEG recordings of ten healthy subjects, with log-bandpower in the gamma frequency range (55-85 Hz), and demonstrate that it is positively correlated with frontal- and occipital gamma-power and negatively correlated with centro-parietal gamma-power. This correlation is shown to be highly significant on the group level as well as in six out of ten subjects on the single-subject level. We then utilize the framework for causal inference developed by Pearl, Spirtes and others [3,4] to present evidence that gamma-power is not only correlated with BCI performance but does indeed exert a causal influence on it. Discussion and Conclusions Our results indicate that successful execution of motor imagery, and hence reliable communication by means of a BCI based on motor imagery, requires a volitional shift of gamma-power from centro-parietal to frontal and occipital regions. As such, our results provide the first non-trivial explanation for the variation in BCI performance across and within subjects. As this topographical alteration in gamma-power is likely to correspond to a specific attentional shift, we propose to provide subjects with feedback on their topographical distribution of gamma-power in order to establish the attentional state required for successful execution of motor imagery.

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Grosse-Wentrup, M., Hill, J., Schölkopf, B. Causal Influence of Gamma Oscillations on Performance in Brain-Computer Interfaces 4th International BCI Meeting0, June 2010 (poster)

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Solving large-scale nonnegative least-squares

Sra, S.

16th Conference of the International Linear Algebra Society (ILAS 2010), 16, pages: 19, June 2010, based on Joint work with Dongmin Kim and Inderjit Dhillon (poster)

Abstract

We study the fundamental problem of nonnegative least squares. This problem was apparently introduced by Lawson and Hanson [1] under the name NNLS. As is evident from its name, NNLS seeks least-squares solutions that are also nonnegative. Owing to its wide-applicability numerous algorithms have been derived for NNLS, beginning from the active-set approach of Lawson and Hanson [1] leading up to the sophisticated interior-point method of Bellavia et al. [2]. We present a new algorithm for NNLS that combines projected subgradients with the non-monotonic gradient descent idea of Barzilai and Borwein [3]. Our resulting algorithm is called BBSG, and we guarantee its convergence by exploiting properties of NNLS in conjunction with projected subgradients. BBSG is surprisingly simple and scales well to large problems. We substantiate our claims by empirically evaluating BBSG and comparing it with established convex solvers and specialized NNLS algorithms. The numerical results suggest that BBSG is a practical method for solving large-scale NNLS problems.

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Sra, S. Solving large-scale nonnegative least-squares 16th Conference of the International Linear Algebra Society (ILAS 2010), 16, pages: 19, June 2010, based on Joint work with Dongmin Kim and Inderjit Dhillon (poster)

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Simultaneous PET/MRI for the evaluation of hemato-oncological diseases with lower extremity manifestations

Sauter, A., Horger, M., Boss, A., Kolb, A., Mantlik, F., Kanz, L., Pfannenberg, C., Stegger, L., Claussen, C., Pichler, B.

Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 51(Supplement 2):1001 , June 2010 (poster)

Abstract

Objectives: The study purpose is the evaluation of patients, suffering from hemato-oncological disease with complications at the lower extremities, using simultaneous PET/MRI. Methods: Until now two patients (chronic active graft-versus-host-disease [GvHD], B-non Hodgkin lymphoma [B-NHL]) before and after therapy were examined in a 3-Tesla-BrainPET/MRI hybrid system following F-18-FDG-PET/CT. Simultaneous static PET (1200 sec.) and MRI scans (T1WI, T2WI, post-CA) were acquired. Results: Initial results show the feasibility of using hybrid PET/MRI-technology for musculoskeletal imaging of the lower extremities. Simultaneous PET and MRI could be acquired in diagnostic quality. Before treatment our patient with GvHD had a high fascia and muscle FDG uptake, possibly due to muscle encasement. T2WI and post gadolinium T1WI revealed a fascial thickening and signs of inflammation. After therapy with steroids followed by imatinib the patients symptoms improved while, the muscular FDG uptake droped whereas the MRI signal remained unchanged. We assume that fascial elasticity improved during therapy despite persistance of fascial thickening. The examination of the second patient with B-NHL manifestation in the tibia showed a significant signal and uptake decrease in the bone marrow and surrounding lesions in both, MRI and PET after therapy with rituximab. The lack of residual FDG-uptake proved superior to MRI information alone helping for exclusion of vital tumor. Conclusions: Combined PET/MRI is a powerful tool to monitor diseases requiring high soft tissue contrast along with molecular information from the FDG uptake.

Web [BibTex]

Sauter, A., Horger, M., Boss, A., Kolb, A., Mantlik, F., Kanz, L., Pfannenberg, C., Stegger, L., Claussen, C., Pichler, B. Simultaneous PET/MRI for the evaluation of hemato-oncological diseases with lower extremity manifestations Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 51(Supplement 2):1001 , June 2010 (poster)

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Solving large-scale nonnegative least squares using an adaptive non-monotonic method

Sra, S., Kim, D., Dhillon, I.

24th European Conference on Operational Research (EURO 2010), 24, pages: 223, April 2010 (poster)

Abstract

We present an efficient algorithm for large-scale non-negative least-squares (NNLS). We solve NNLS by extending the unconstrained quadratic optimization method of Barzilai and Borwein (BB) to handle nonnegativity constraints. Our approach is simple yet efficient. It differs from other constrained BB variants as: (i) it uses a specific subset of variables for computing BB steps; and (ii) it scales these steps adaptively to ensure convergence. We compare our method with both established convex solvers and specialized NNLS methods, and observe highly competitive empirical performance.

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Sra, S., Kim, D., Dhillon, I. Solving large-scale nonnegative least squares using an adaptive non-monotonic method 24th European Conference on Operational Research (EURO 2010), 24, pages: 223, April 2010 (poster)

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Sparse regression via a trust-region proximal method

Kim, D., Sra, S., Dhillon, I.

24th European Conference on Operational Research (EURO 2010), 24, pages: 278, April 2010 (poster)

Abstract

We present a method for sparse regression problems. Our method is based on the nonsmooth trust-region framework that minimizes a sum of smooth convex functions and a nonsmooth convex regularizer. By employing a separable quadratic approximation to the smooth part, the method enables the use of proximity operators, which in turn allow tackling the nonsmooth part efficiently. We illustrate our method by implementing it for three important sparse regression problems. In experiments with synthetic and real-world large-scale data, our method is seen to be competitive, robust, and scalable.

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Kim, D., Sra, S., Dhillon, I. Sparse regression via a trust-region proximal method 24th European Conference on Operational Research (EURO 2010), 24, pages: 278, April 2010 (poster)

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PAC-Bayesian Bounds for Discrete Density Estimation and Co-clustering Analysis

Seldin, Y., Tishby, N.

Workshop "Foundations and New Trends of PAC Bayesian Learning", 2010, March 2010 (poster)

Abstract

We applied PAC-Bayesian framework to derive gen- eralization bounds for co-clustering1. The analysis yielded regularization terms that were absent in the preceding formulations of this task. The bounds sug- gested that co-clustering should optimize a trade-off between its empirical performance and the mutual in- formation that the cluster variables preserve on row and column indices. Proper regularization enabled us to achieve state-of-the-art results in prediction of the missing ratings in the MovieLens collaborative filtering dataset. In addition a PAC-Bayesian bound for discrete den- sity estimation was derived. We have shown that the PAC-Bayesian bound for classification is a spe- cial case of the PAC-Bayesian bound for discrete den- sity estimation. We further introduced combinatorial priors to PAC-Bayesian analysis. The combinatorial priors are more appropriate for discrete domains, as opposed to Gaussian priors, the latter of which are suitable for continuous domains. It was shown that combinatorial priors lead to regularization terms in the form of mutual information.

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Seldin, Y., Tishby, N. PAC-Bayesian Bounds for Discrete Density Estimation and Co-clustering Analysis Workshop "Foundations and New Trends of PAC Bayesian Learning", 2010, March 2010 (poster)

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Learning the Reward Model of Dialogue POMDPs

Boularias, A., Chinaei, H., Chaib-Draa, B.

NIPS Workshop on Machine Learning for Assistive Technology (MLAT-2010), 2010 (poster)

[BibTex]

Boularias, A., Chinaei, H., Chaib-Draa, B. Learning the Reward Model of Dialogue POMDPs NIPS Workshop on Machine Learning for Assistive Technology (MLAT-2010), 2010 (poster)

[BibTex]

Erste Erfahrungen bei der Beurteilung hämato-onkologischer Krankheitsmanifestationen an den Extremitäten mit einem PET/MRT-Hybridsystem.

Sauter, A., Boss, A., Kolb, A., Mantlik, F., Bethge, W., Kanz, L., Pfannenberg, C., Stegger, L., Pichler, B., Claussen, C., Horger, M.

Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany, 91. Deutscher R{\"o}ntgenkongress, 2010 (poster)

Web DOI [BibTex]

Sauter, A., Boss, A., Kolb, A., Mantlik, F., Bethge, W., Kanz, L., Pfannenberg, C., Stegger, L., Pichler, B., Claussen, C., Horger, M. Erste Erfahrungen bei der Beurteilung hämato-onkologischer Krankheitsmanifestationen an den Extremitäten mit einem PET/MRT-Hybridsystem. Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany, 91. Deutscher R{\"o}ntgenkongress, 2010 (poster)

Web DOI [BibTex]

2005

Kernel methods for dependence testing in LFP-MUA

Gretton, A., Belitski, A., Murayama, Y., Schölkopf, B., Logothetis, N.

35(689.17), 35th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (Neuroscience), November 2005 (poster)

Abstract

A fundamental problem in neuroscience is determining whether or not particular neural signals are dependent. The correlation is the most straightforward basis for such tests, but considerable work also focuses on the mutual information (MI), which is capable of revealing dependence of higher orders that the correlation cannot detect. That said, there are other measures of dependence that share with the MI an ability to detect dependence of any order, but which can be easier to compute in practice. We focus in particular on tests based on the functional covariance, which derive from work originally accomplished in 1959 by Renyi. Conceptually, our dependence tests work by computing the covariance between (infinite dimensional) vectors of nonlinear mappings of the observations being tested, and then determining whether this covariance is zero - we call this measure the constrained covariance (COCO). When these vectors are members of universal reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces, we can prove this covariance to be zero only when the variables being tested are independent. The greatest advantage of these tests, compared with the mutual information, is their simplicity – when comparing two signals, we need only take the largest eigenvalue (or the trace) of a product of two matrices of nonlinearities, where these matrices are generally much smaller than the number of observations (and are very simple to construct). We compare the mutual information, the COCO, and the correlation in the context of finding changes in dependence between the LFP and MUA signals in the primary visual cortex of the anaesthetized macaque, during the presentation of dynamic natural stimuli. We demonstrate that the MI and COCO reveal dependence which is not detected by the correlation alone (which we prove by artificially removing all correlation between the signals, and then testing their dependence with COCO and the MI); and that COCO and the MI give results consistent with each other on our data.

Web [BibTex]

2005

Gretton, A., Belitski, A., Murayama, Y., Schölkopf, B., Logothetis, N. Kernel methods for dependence testing in LFP-MUA 35(689.17), 35th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (Neuroscience), November 2005 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

Rapid animal detection in natural scenes: Critical features are local

Wichmann, F., Rosas, P., Gegenfurtner, K.

Journal of Vision, 5(8):376, Fifth Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS), September 2005 (poster)

Abstract

Thorpe et al (Nature 381, 1996) first showed how rapidly human observers are able to classify natural images as to whether they contain an animal or not. Whilst the basic result has been replicated using different response paradigms (yes-no versus forced-choice), modalities (eye movements versus button presses) as well as while measuring neurophysiological correlates (ERPs), it is still unclear which image features support this rapid categorisation. Recently Torralba and Oliva (Network: Computation in Neural Systems, 14, 2003) suggested that simple global image statistics can be used to predict seemingly complex decisions about the absence and/or presence of objects in natural scences. They show that the information contained in a small number (N=16) of spectral principal components (SPC)—principal component analysis (PCA) applied to the normalised power spectra of the images—is sufficient to achieve approximately 80% correct animal detection in natural scenes. Our goal was to test whether human observers make use of the power spectrum when rapidly classifying natural scenes. We measured our subjects' ability to detect animals in natural scenes as a function of presentation time (13 to 167 msec); images were immediately followed by a noise mask. In one condition we used the original images, in the other images whose power spectra were equalised (each power spectrum was set to the mean power spectrum over our ensemble of 1476 images). Thresholds for 75% correct animal detection were in the region of 20–30 msec for all observers, independent of the power spectrum of the images: this result makes it very unlikely that human observers make use of the global power spectrum. Taken together with the results of Gegenfurtner, Braun & Wichmann (Journal of Vision [abstract], 2003), showing the robustness of animal detection to global phase noise, we conclude that humans use local features, like edges and contours, in rapid animal detection.

Web DOI [BibTex]

Wichmann, F., Rosas, P., Gegenfurtner, K. Rapid animal detection in natural scenes: Critical features are local Journal of Vision, 5(8):376, Fifth Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS), September 2005 (poster)

Web DOI [BibTex]

Learning an Interest Operator from Eye Movements

Kienzle, W., Franz, M., Wichmann, F., Schölkopf, B.

International Workshop on Bioinspired Information Processing (BIP 2005), 2005, pages: 1, September 2005 (poster)

PDF Web [BibTex]

Kienzle, W., Franz, M., Wichmann, F., Schölkopf, B. Learning an Interest Operator from Eye Movements International Workshop on Bioinspired Information Processing (BIP 2005), 2005, pages: 1, September 2005 (poster)

PDF Web [BibTex]

Classification of natural scenes using global image statistics

Drewes, J., Wichmann, F., Gegenfurtner, K.

Journal of Vision, 5(8):602, Fifth Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS), September 2005 (poster)

Abstract

The algorithmic classification of complex, natural scenes is generally considered a difficult task due to the large amount of information conveyed by natural images. Work by Simon Thorpe and colleagues showed that humans are capable of detecting animals within novel natural scenes with remarkable speed and accuracy. This suggests that the relevant information for classification can be extracted at comparatively limited computational cost. One hypothesis is that global image statistics such as the amplitude spectrum could underly fast image classification (Johnson & Olshausen, Journal of Vision, 2003; Torralba & Oliva, Network: Comput. Neural Syst., 2003). We used linear discriminant analysis to classify a set of 11.000 images into animal and non-animal images. After applying a DFT to the image, we put the Fourier spectrum into bins (8 orientations with 6 frequency bands each). Using all bins, classification performance on the Fourier spectrum reached 70%. However, performance was similar (67%) when only the high spatial frequency information was used and decreased steadily at lower spatial frequencies, reaching a minimum (50%) for the low spatial frequency information. Similar results were obtained when all bins were used on spatially filtered images. A detailed analysis of the classification weights showed that a relatively high level of performance (67%) could also be obtained when only 2 bins were used, namely the vertical and horizontal orientation at the highest spatial frequency band. Our results show that in the absence of sophisticated machine learning techniques, animal detection in natural scenes is limited to rather modest levels of performance, far below those of human observers. If limiting oneself to global image statistics such as the DFT then mostly information at the highest spatial frequencies is useful for the task. This is analogous to the results obtained with human observers on filtered images (Kirchner et al, VSS 2004).

Web DOI [BibTex]

Drewes, J., Wichmann, F., Gegenfurtner, K. Classification of natural scenes using global image statistics Journal of Vision, 5(8):602, Fifth Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS), September 2005 (poster)

Web DOI [BibTex]

Comparative evaluation of Independent Components Analysis algorithms for isolating target-relevant information in brain-signal classification

Hill, N., Schröder, M., Lal, T., Schölkopf, B.

Brain-Computer Interface Technology, 3, pages: 95, June 2005 (poster)

PDF [BibTex]

Hill, N., Schröder, M., Lal, T., Schölkopf, B. Comparative evaluation of Independent Components Analysis algorithms for isolating target-relevant information in brain-signal classification Brain-Computer Interface Technology, 3, pages: 95, June 2005 (poster)

PDF [BibTex]

Classification of natural scenes using global image statistics

Drewes, J., Wichmann, F., Gegenfurtner, K.

47, pages: 88, 47. Tagung Experimentell Arbeitender Psychologen, April 2005 (poster)

[BibTex]

Drewes, J., Wichmann, F., Gegenfurtner, K. Classification of natural scenes using global image statistics 47, pages: 88, 47. Tagung Experimentell Arbeitender Psychologen, April 2005 (poster)

[BibTex]

Classification of Natural Scenes using Global Image Statistics

Drewes, J., Wichmann, F., Gegenfurtner, K.

8, pages: 88, 8th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2005 (poster)

Abstract

The algorithmic classification of complex, natural scenes is generally considered a difficult task due to the large amount of information conveyed by natural images. Work by Simon Thorpe and colleagues showed that humans are capable of detecting animals within novel natural scenes with remarkable speed and accuracy. This suggests that the relevant information for classification can be extracted at comparatively limited computational cost. One hypothesis is that global image statistics such as the amplitude spectrum could underly fast image classification (Johnson & Olshausen, Journal of Vision, 2003; Torralba & Oliva, Network: Comput. Neural Syst., 2003). We used linear discriminant analysis to classify a set of 11.000 images into animal and nonanimal images. After applying a DFT to the image, we put the Fourier spectrum of each image into 48 bins (8 orientations with 6 frequency bands). Using all of these bins, classification performance on the Fourier spectrum reached 70%. In an iterative procedure, we then removed the bins whose absence caused the smallest damage to the classification performance (one bin per iteration). Notably, performance stayed at about 70% until less then 6 bins were left. A detailed analysis of the classification weights showed that a comparatively high level of performance (67%) could also be obtained when only 2 bins were used, namely the vertical orientations at the highest spatial frequency band. When using only a single frequency band (8 bins) we found that 67% classification performance could be reached when only the high spatial frequency information was used, which decreased steadily at lower spatial frequencies, reaching a minimum (50%) for the low spatial frequency information. Similar results were obtained when all bins were used on spatially pre-filtered images. Our results show that in the absence of sophisticated machine learning techniques, animal detection in natural scenes is limited to rather modest levels of performance, far below those of human observers. If limiting oneself to global image statistics such as the DFT then mostly information at the highest spatial frequencies is useful for the task. This is analogous to the results obtained with human observers on filtered images (Kirchner et al, VSS 2004).

Web [BibTex]

Drewes, J., Wichmann, F., Gegenfurtner, K. Classification of Natural Scenes using Global Image Statistics 8, pages: 88, 8th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2005 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

Efficient Adaptive Sampling of the Psychometric Function by Maximizing Information Gain

Tanner, T., Hill, N., Rasmussen, C., Wichmann, F.

8, pages: 109, (Editors: Bülthoff, H. H., H. A. Mallot, R. Ulrich and F. A. Wichmann), 8th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2005 (poster)

Abstract

A psychometric function can be described by its shape and four parameters: position or threshold, slope or width, false alarm rate or chance level, and miss or lapse rate. Depending on the parameters of interest some points on the psychometric function may be more informative than others. Adaptive methods attempt to place trials on the most informative points based on the data collected in previous trials. We introduce a new adaptive bayesian psychometric method which collects data for any set of parameters with high efficency. It places trials by minimizing the expected entropy [1] of the posterior pdf over a set of possible stimuli. In contrast to most other adaptive methods it is neither limited to threshold measurement nor to forced-choice designs. Nuisance parameters can be included in the estimation and lead to less biased estimates. The method supports block designs which do not harm the performance when a sufficient number of trials are performed. Block designs are useful for control of response bias and short term performance shifts such as adaptation. We present the results of evaluations of the method by computer simulations and experiments with human observers. In the simulations we investigated the role of parametric assumptions, the quality of different point estimates, the effect of dynamic termination criteria and many other settings. [1] Kontsevich, L.L. and Tyler, C.W. (1999): Bayesian adaptive estimation of psychometric slope and threshold. Vis. Res. 39 (16), 2729-2737.

Web [BibTex]

Tanner, T., Hill, N., Rasmussen, C., Wichmann, F. Efficient Adaptive Sampling of the Psychometric Function by Maximizing Information Gain 8, pages: 109, (Editors: Bülthoff, H. H., H. A. Mallot, R. Ulrich and F. A. Wichmann), 8th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2005 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

Automatic Classification of Plankton from Digital Images

Sieracki, M., Riseman, E., Balch, W., Benfield, M., Hanson, A., Pilskaln, C., Schultz, H., Sieracki, C., Utgoff, P., Blaschko, M., Holness, G., Mattar, M., Lisin, D., Tupper, B.

ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting, 1, pages: 1, February 2005 (poster)

[BibTex]

Sieracki, M., Riseman, E., Balch, W., Benfield, M., Hanson, A., Pilskaln, C., Schultz, H., Sieracki, C., Utgoff, P., Blaschko, M., Holness, G., Mattar, M., Lisin, D., Tupper, B. Automatic Classification of Plankton from Digital Images ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting, 1, pages: 1, February 2005 (poster)

[BibTex]

Bayesian Inference for Psychometric Functions

Kuss, M., Jäkel, F., Wichmann, F.

8, pages: 106, (Editors: Bülthoff, H. H., H. A. Mallot, R. Ulrich and F. A. Wichmann), 8th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2005 (poster)

Abstract

In psychophysical studies of perception the psychometric function is used to model the relation between the physical stimulus intensity and the observer's ability to detect or discriminate between stimuli of different intensities. We propose the use of Bayesian inference to extract the information contained in experimental data to learn about the parameters of psychometric functions. Since Bayesian inference cannot be performed analytically we use a Markov chain Monte Carlo method to generate samples from the posterior distribution over parameters. These samples can be used to estimate Bayesian confidence intervals and other characteristics of the posterior distribution. We compare our approach with traditional methods based on maximum-likelihood parameter estimation combined with parametric bootstrap techniques for confidence interval estimation. Experiments indicate that Bayesian inference methods are superior to bootstrap-based methods and are thus the method of choice for estimating the psychometric function and its confidence-intervals.

Web [BibTex]

Kuss, M., Jäkel, F., Wichmann, F. Bayesian Inference for Psychometric Functions 8, pages: 106, (Editors: Bülthoff, H. H., H. A. Mallot, R. Ulrich and F. A. Wichmann), 8th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2005 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

Global image statistics of natural scenes

Drewes, J., Wichmann, F., Gegenfurtner, K.

Bioinspired Information Processing, 08, pages: 1, 2005 (poster)

[BibTex]

Drewes, J., Wichmann, F., Gegenfurtner, K. Global image statistics of natural scenes Bioinspired Information Processing, 08, pages: 1, 2005 (poster)

[BibTex]

Kernel-Methods, Similarity, and Exemplar Theories of Categorization

Jäkel, F., Wichmann, F.

ASIC, 4, 2005 (poster)

Abstract

Kernel-methods are popular tools in machine learning and statistics that can be implemented in a simple feed-forward neural network. They have strong connections to several psychological theories. For example, Shepard‘s universal law of generalization can be given a kernel interpretation. This leads to an inner product and a metric on the psychological space that is different from the usual Minkowski norm. The metric has psychologically interesting properties: It is bounded from above and does not have additive segments. As categorization models often rely on Shepard‘s law as a model for psychological similarity some of them can be recast as kernel-methods. In particular, ALCOVE is shown to be closely related to kernel logistic regression. The relationship to the Generalized Context Model is also discussed. It is argued that functional analysis which is routinely used in machine learning provides valuable insights also for psychology.

Web [BibTex]

Jäkel, F., Wichmann, F. Kernel-Methods, Similarity, and Exemplar Theories of Categorization ASIC, 4, 2005 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

Rapid animal detection in natural scenes: critical features are local

Wichmann, F., Rosas, P., Gegenfurtner, K.

Experimentelle Psychologie. Beitr{\"a}ge zur 47. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen, 47, pages: 225, 2005 (poster)

[BibTex]

Wichmann, F., Rosas, P., Gegenfurtner, K. Rapid animal detection in natural scenes: critical features are local Experimentelle Psychologie. Beitr{\"a}ge zur 47. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen, 47, pages: 225, 2005 (poster)

[BibTex]

The human brain as large margin classifier

Graf, A., Wichmann, F., Bülthoff, H., Schölkopf, B.

Proceedings of the Computational & Systems Neuroscience Meeting (COSYNE), 2, pages: 1, 2005 (poster)

[BibTex]

Graf, A., Wichmann, F., Bülthoff, H., Schölkopf, B. The human brain as large margin classifier Proceedings of the Computational & Systems Neuroscience Meeting (COSYNE), 2, pages: 1, 2005 (poster)

[BibTex]

2004

S-cones contribute to flicker brightness in human vision

Wehrhahn, C., Hill, NJ., Dillenburger, B.

34(174.12), 34th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (Neuroscience), October 2004 (poster)

Abstract

In the retina of primates three cone types sensitive to short, middle and long wavelengths of light convert photons into electrical signals. Many investigators have presented evidence that, in color normal observers, the signals of cones sensitive to short wavelengths of light (S-cones) do not contribute to the perception of brightness of a colored surface when this is alternated with an achromatic reference (flicker brightness). Other studies indicate that humans do use S-cone signals when performing this task. Common to all these studies is the small number of observers, whose performance data are reported. Considerable variability in the occurrence of cone types across observers has been found, but, to our knowledge, no cone counts exist from larger populations of humans. We reinvestigated how much the S-cones contribute to flicker brightness. 76 color normal observers were tested in a simple psychophysical procedure neutral to the cone type occurence (Teufel & Wehrhahn (2000), JOSA A 17: 994 - 1006). The data show that, in the majority of our observers, S-cones provide input with a negative sign - relative to L- and M-cone contribution - in the task in question. There is indeed considerable between-subject variability such that for 20 out of 76 observers the magnitude of this input does not differ significantly from 0. Finally, we argue that the sign of S-cone contribution to flicker brightness perception by an observer cannot be used to infer the relative sign their contributions to the neuronal signals carrying the information leading to the perception of flicker brightness. We conclude that studies which use only a small number of observers may easily fail to find significant evidence for the small but significant population tendency for the S-cones to contribute to flicker brightness. Our results confirm all earlier results and reconcile their contradictory interpretations.

Web [BibTex]

2004

Wehrhahn, C., Hill, NJ., Dillenburger, B. S-cones contribute to flicker brightness in human vision 34(174.12), 34th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (Neuroscience), October 2004 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

Learning Motor Primitives with Reinforcement Learning

Peters, J., Schaal, S.

AAAI Fall Symposium on Real-Life Reinforcement Learning 2004, 2004, pages: 1, October 2004 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

Peters, J., Schaal, S. Learning Motor Primitives with Reinforcement Learning AAAI Fall Symposium on Real-Life Reinforcement Learning 2004, 2004, pages: 1, October 2004 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

Learning Motor Primitives with Reinforcement Learning

Peters, J., Schaal, S.

11th Joint Symposium on Neural Computation (JSNC 2004), 11, pages: 1, May 2004 (poster)

Abstract

One of the major challenges in action generation for robotics and in the understanding of human motor control is to learn the "building blocks of move- ment generation," or more precisely, motor primitives. Recently, Ijspeert et al. [1, 2] suggested a novel framework how to use nonlinear dynamical systems as motor primitives. While a lot of progress has been made in teaching these mo- tor primitives using supervised or imitation learning, the self-improvement by interaction of the system with the environment remains a challenging problem. In this poster, we evaluate different reinforcement learning approaches can be used in order to improve the performance of motor primitives. For pursuing this goal, we highlight the difficulties with current reinforcement learning methods, and line out how these lead to a novel algorithm which is based on natural policy gradients [3]. We compare this algorithm to previous reinforcement learning algorithms in the context of dynamic motor primitive learning, and show that it outperforms these by at least an order of magnitude. We demonstrate the efficiency of the resulting reinforcement learning method for creating complex behaviors for automous robotics. The studied behaviors will include both discrete, finite tasks such as baseball swings, as well as complex rhythmic patterns as they occur in biped locomotion.

Web [BibTex]

Peters, J., Schaal, S. Learning Motor Primitives with Reinforcement Learning 11th Joint Symposium on Neural Computation (JSNC 2004), 11, pages: 1, May 2004 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

Human Classification Behaviour Revisited by Machine Learning

Graf, A., Wichmann, F., Bülthoff, H., Schölkopf, B.

7, pages: 134, (Editors: Bülthoff, H.H., H.A. Mallot, R. Ulrich and F.A. Wichmann), 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), Febuary 2004 (poster)

Abstract

We attempt to understand visual classication in humans using both psychophysical and machine learning techniques. Frontal views of human faces were used for a gender classication task. Human subjects classied the faces and their gender judgment, reaction time (RT) and condence rating (CR) were recorded for each face. RTs are longer for incorrect answers than for correct ones, high CRs are correlated with low classication errors and RTs decrease as the CRs increase. This results suggest that patterns difcult to classify need more computation by the brain than patterns easy to classify. Hyperplane learning algorithms such as Support Vector Machines (SVM), Relevance Vector Machines (RVM), Prototype learners (Prot) and K-means learners (Kmean) were used on the same classication task using the Principal Components of the texture and oweld representation of the faces. The classication performance of the learning algorithms was estimated using the face database with the true gender of the faces as labels, and also with the gender estimated by the subjects. Kmean yield a classication performance close to humans while SVM and RVM are much better. This surprising behaviour may be due to the fact that humans are trained on real faces during their lifetime while they were here tested on articial ones, while the algorithms were trained and tested on the same set of stimuli. We then correlated the human responses to the distance of the stimuli to the separating hyperplane (SH) of the learning algorithms. On the whole stimuli far from the SH are classied more accurately, faster and with higher condence than those near to the SH if we pool data across all our subjects and stimuli. We also nd three noteworthy results. First, SVMs and RVMs can learn to classify faces using the subjects' labels but perform much better when using the true labels. Second, correlating the average response of humans (classication error, RT or CR) with the distance to the SH on a face-by-face basis using Spearman's rank correlation coefcients shows that RVMs recreate human performance most closely in every respect. Third, the mean-of-class prototype, its popularity in neuroscience notwithstanding, is the least human-like classier in all cases examined.

Web [BibTex]

Graf, A., Wichmann, F., Bülthoff, H., Schölkopf, B. Human Classification Behaviour Revisited by Machine Learning 7, pages: 134, (Editors: Bülthoff, H.H., H.A. Mallot, R. Ulrich and F.A. Wichmann), 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), Febuary 2004 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

m-Alternative-Forced-Choice: Improving the Efficiency of the Method of Constant Stimuli

Jäkel, F., Hill, J., Wichmann, F.

7, pages: 118, 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2004 (poster)

Abstract

We explored several ways to improve the efficiency of measuring psychometric functions without resorting to adaptive procedures. a) The number m of alternatives in an m-alternative-forced-choice (m-AFC) task improves the efficiency of the method of constant stimuli. b) When alternatives are presented simultaneously on different positions on a screen rather than sequentially time can be saved and memory load for the subject can be reduced. c) A touch-screen can further help to make the experimental procedure more intuitive. We tested these ideas in the measurement of contrast sensitivity and compared them to results obtained by sequential presentation in two-interval-forced-choice (2-IFC). Qualitatively all methods (m-AFC and 2-IFC) recovered the characterictic shape of the contrast sensitivity function in three subjects. The m-AFC paradigm only took about 60% of the time of the 2-IFC task. We tried m=2,4,8 and found 4-AFC to give the best model fits and 2-AFC to have the least bias.

Web [BibTex]

Jäkel, F., Hill, J., Wichmann, F. m-Alternative-Forced-Choice: Improving the Efficiency of the Method of Constant Stimuli 7, pages: 118, 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2004 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

Efficient Approximations for Support Vector Classifiers

Kienzle, W., Franz, M.

7, pages: 68, 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2004 (poster)

Abstract

In face detection, support vector machines (SVM) and neural networks (NN) have been shown to outperform most other classication methods. While both approaches are learning-based, there are distinct advantages and drawbacks to each method: NNs are difcult to design and train but can lead to very small and efcient classiers. In comparison, SVM model selection and training is rather straightforward, and, more importantly, guaranteed to converge to a globally optimal (in the sense of training errors) solution. Unfortunately, SVM classiers tend to have large representations which are inappropriate for time-critical image processing applications. In this work, we examine various existing and new methods for simplifying support vector decision rules. Our goal is to obtain efcient classiers (as with NNs) while keeping the numerical and statistical advantages of SVMs. For a given SVM solution, we compute a cascade of approximations with increasing complexities. Each classier is tuned so that the detection rate is near 100%. At run-time, the rst (simplest) detector is evaluated on the whole image. Then, any subsequent classier is applied only to those positions that have been classied as positive throughout all previous stages. The false positive rate at the end equals that of the last (i.e. most complex) detector. In contrast, since many image positions are discarded by lower-complexity classiers, the average computation time per patch decreases signicantly compared to the time needed for evaluating the highest-complexity classier alone.

Web [BibTex]

Kienzle, W., Franz, M. Efficient Approximations for Support Vector Classifiers 7, pages: 68, 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2004 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

Selective Attention to Auditory Stimuli: A Brain-Computer Interface Paradigm

Hill, N., Lal, T., Schröder, M., Hinterberger, T., Birbaumer, N., Schölkopf, B.

7, pages: 102, (Editors: Bülthoff, H.H., H.A. Mallot, R. Ulrich and F.A. Wichmann), 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2004 (poster)

Abstract

During the last 20 years several paradigms for Brain Computer Interfaces have been proposed see [1] for a recent review. They can be divided into (a) stimulus-driven paradigms, using e.g. event-related potentials or visual evoked potentials from an EEG signal, and (b) patient-driven paradigms such as those that use premotor potentials correlated with imagined action, or slow cortical potentials (e.g. [2]). Our aim is to develop a stimulus-driven paradigm that is applicable in practice to patients. Due to the unreliability of visual perception in locked-in patients in the later stages of disorders such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, we concentrate on the auditory modality. Speci- cally, we look for the effects, in the EEG signal, of selective attention to one of two concurrent auditory stimulus streams, exploiting the increased activation to attended stimuli that is seen under some circumstances [3]. We present the results of our preliminary experiments on normal subjects. On each of 400 trials, two repetitive stimuli (sequences of drum-beats or other pulsed stimuli) could be heard simultaneously. The two stimuli were distinguishable from one another by their acoustic properties, by their source location (one from a speaker to the left of the subject, the other from the right), and by their differing periodicities. A visual cue preceded the stimulus by 500 msec, indicating which of the two stimuli to attend to, and the subject was instructed to count the beats in the attended stimulus stream. There were up to 6 beats of each stimulus: with equal probability on each trial, all 6 were played, or the fourth was omitted, or the fth was omitted. The 40-channel EEG signals were analyzed ofine to reconstruct which of the streams was attended on each trial. A linear Support Vector Machine [4] was trained on a random subset of the data and tested on the remainder. Results are compared from two types of pre-processing of the signal: for each stimulus stream, (a) EEG signals at the stream's beat periodicity are emphasized, or (b) EEG signals following beats are contrasted with those following missing beats. Both forms of pre-processing show promising results, i.e. that selective attention to one or the other auditory stream yields signals that are classiable signicantly above chance performance. In particular, the second pre-processing was found to be robust to reduction in the number of features used for classication (cf. [5]), helping us to eliminate noise.

PDF Web [BibTex]

Hill, N., Lal, T., Schröder, M., Hinterberger, T., Birbaumer, N., Schölkopf, B. Selective Attention to Auditory Stimuli: A Brain-Computer Interface Paradigm 7, pages: 102, (Editors: Bülthoff, H.H., H.A. Mallot, R. Ulrich and F.A. Wichmann), 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2004 (poster)

PDF Web [BibTex]

Texture and Haptic Cues in Slant Discrimination: Measuring the Effect of Texture Type

Rosas, P., Wichmann, F., Ernst, M., Wagemans, J.

7, pages: 165, (Editors: Bülthoff, H. H., H. A. Mallot, R. Ulrich, F. A. Wichmann), 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2004 (poster)

Abstract

In a number of models of depth cue combination the depth percept is constructed via a weighted average combination of independent depth estimations. The inuence of each cue in such average depends on the reliability of the source of information [1,5]. In particular, Ernst and Banks (2002) formulate such combination as that of the minimum variance unbiased estimator that can be constructed from the available cues. We have observed systematic differences in slant discrimination performance of human observers when different types of textures were used as cue to slant [4]. If the depth percept behaves as described above, our measurements of the slopes of the psychometric functions provide the predicted weights for the texture cue for the ranked texture types. However, the results for slant discrimination obtained when combining these texture types with object motion results are difcult to reconcile with the minimum variance unbiased estimator model [3]. This apparent failure of such model might be explained by the existence of a coupling of texture and motion, violating the assumption of independence of cues. Hillis, Ernst, Banks, and Landy (2002) [2] have shown that while for between-modality combination the human visual system has access to the single-cue information, for withinmodality combination (visual cues) the single-cue information is lost. This suggests a coupling between visual cues and independence between visual and haptic cues. Then, in the present study we combined the different texture types with haptic information in a slant discrimination task, to test whether in the between-modality condition these cues are combined as predicted by an unbiased, minimum variance estimator model. The measured weights for the cues were consistent with a combination rule sensitive to the reliability of the sources of information, but did not match the predictions of a statistically optimal combination.

PDF Web [BibTex]

Rosas, P., Wichmann, F., Ernst, M., Wagemans, J. Texture and Haptic Cues in Slant Discrimination: Measuring the Effect of Texture Type 7, pages: 165, (Editors: Bülthoff, H. H., H. A. Mallot, R. Ulrich, F. A. Wichmann), 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2004 (poster)

PDF Web [BibTex]

Efficient Approximations for Support Vector Classiers

Kienzle, W., Franz, M.

7, pages: 68, 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2004 (poster)

Abstract

Web [BibTex]

Kienzle, W., Franz, M. Efficient Approximations for Support Vector Classiers 7, pages: 68, 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2004 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

EEG Channel Selection for Brain Computer Interface Systems Based on Support Vector Methods

Schröder, M., Lal, T., Bogdan, M., Schölkopf, B.

7, pages: 50, (Editors: Bülthoff, H.H., H.A. Mallot, R. Ulrich and F.A. Wichmann), 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2004 (poster)

Abstract

A Brain Computer Interface (BCI) system allows the direct interpretation of brain activity patterns (e.g. EEG signals) by a computer. Typical BCI applications comprise spelling aids or environmental control systems supporting paralyzed patients that have lost motor control completely. The design of an EEG based BCI system requires good answers for the problem of selecting useful features during the performance of a mental task as well as for the problem of classifying these features. For the special case of choosing appropriate EEG channels from several available channels, we propose the application of variants of the Support Vector Machine (SVM) for both problems. Although these algorithms do not rely on prior knowledge they can provide more accurate solutions than standard lter methods [1] for feature selection which usually incorporate prior knowledge about neural activity patterns during the performed mental tasks. For judging the importance of features we introduce a new relevance measure and apply it to EEG channels. Although we base the relevance measure for this purpose on the previously introduced algorithms, it does in general not depend on specic algorithms but can be derived using arbitrary combinations of feature selectors and classifiers.

Web [BibTex]

Schröder, M., Lal, T., Bogdan, M., Schölkopf, B. EEG Channel Selection for Brain Computer Interface Systems Based on Support Vector Methods 7, pages: 50, (Editors: Bülthoff, H.H., H.A. Mallot, R. Ulrich and F.A. Wichmann), 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2004 (poster)

Web [BibTex]

Learning Depth

Sinz, F., Franz, MO.

pages: 69, (Editors: H.H.Bülthoff, H.A.Mallot, R.Ulrich,F.A.Wichmann), 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2004 (poster)

Abstract

The depth of a point in space can be estimated by observing its image position from two different viewpoints. The classical approach to stereo vision calculates depth from the two projection equations which together form a stereocamera model. An unavoidable preparatory work for this solution is a calibration procedure, i.e., estimating the external (position and orientation) and internal (focal length, lens distortions etc.) parameters of each camera from a set of points with known spatial position and their corresponding image positions. This is normally done by iteratively linearizing the single camera models and reestimating their parameters according to the error on the known datapoints. The advantage of the classical method is the maximal usage of prior knowledge about the underlying physical processes and the explicit estimation of meaningful model parameters such as focal length or camera position in space. However, the approach neglects the nonlinear nature of the problem such that the results critically depend on the choice of the initial values for the parameters. In this study, we approach the depth estimation problem from a different point of view by applying generic machine learning algorithms to learn the mapping from image coordinates to spatial position. These algorithms do not require any domain knowledge and are able to learn nonlinear functions by mapping the inputs into a higher-dimensional space. Compared to classical calibration, machine learning methods give a direct solution to the depth estimation problem which means that the values of the stereocamera parameters cannot be extracted from the learned mapping. On the poster, we compare the performance of classical camera calibration to that of different machine learning algorithms such as kernel ridge regression, gaussian processes and support vector regression. Our results indicate that generic learning approaches can lead to higher depth accuracies than classical calibration although no domain knowledge is used.

PDF Web [BibTex]

Sinz, F., Franz, MO. Learning Depth pages: 69, (Editors: H.H.Bülthoff, H.A.Mallot, R.Ulrich,F.A.Wichmann), 7th T{\"u}bingen Perception Conference (TWK), February 2004 (poster)

PDF Web [BibTex]

Neural mechanisms underlying control of a Brain-Computer-Interface (BCI): Simultaneous recording of bold-response and EEG

Hinterberger, T., Wilhelm, B., Veit, R., Weiskopf, N., Lal, TN., Birbaumer, N.

2004 (poster)

Abstract

Brain computer interfaces (BCI) enable humans or animals to communicate or activate external devices without muscle activity using electric brain signals. The BCI Thought Translation Device (TTD) uses learned regulation of slow cortical potentials (SCPs), a skill most people and paralyzed patients can acquire with training periods of several hours up to months. The neurophysiological mechanisms and anatomical sources of SCPs and other event-related brain macro-potentials are well understood, but the neural mechanisms underlying learning of the self-regulation skill for BCI-use are unknown. To uncover the relevant areas of brain activation during regulation of SCPs, the TTD was combined with functional MRI and EEG was recorded inside the MRI scanner in twelve healthy participants who have learned to regulate their SCP with feedback and reinforcement. The results demonstrate activation of specific brain areas during execution of the brain regulation skill: successf! ul control of cortical positivity allowing a person to activate an external device was closely related to an increase of BOLD (blood oxygen level dependent) response in the basal ganglia and frontal premotor deactivation indicating learned regulation of a cortical-striatal loop responsible for local excitation thresholds of cortical assemblies. The data suggest that human users of a BCI learn the regulation of cortical excitation thresholds of large neuronal assemblies as a prerequisite of direct brain communication: the learning of this skill depends critically on an intact and flexible interaction between these cortico-basal ganglia-circuits. Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the National Institute of Health (NIH).

[BibTex]

Hinterberger, T., Wilhelm, B., Veit, R., Weiskopf, N., Lal, TN., Birbaumer, N. Neural mechanisms underlying control of a Brain-Computer-Interface (BCI): Simultaneous recording of bold-response and EEG 2004 (poster)

[BibTex]

Masking by plaid patterns revisited

Wichmann, F.

Experimentelle Psychologie. Beitr{\"a}ge zur 46. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen, 46, pages: 285, 2004 (poster)

[BibTex]

Wichmann, F. Masking by plaid patterns revisited Experimentelle Psychologie. Beitr{\"a}ge zur 46. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen, 46, pages: 285, 2004 (poster)

[BibTex]

Early visual processing—data, theory, models

Wichmann, F.

Experimentelle Psychologie. Beitr{\"a}ge zur 46. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen, 46, pages: 24, 2004 (poster)

[BibTex]

Wichmann, F. Early visual processing—data, theory, models Experimentelle Psychologie. Beitr{\"a}ge zur 46. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen, 46, pages: 24, 2004 (poster)

[BibTex]

Implicit Wiener series for capturing higher-order interactions in images

Franz, M., Schölkopf, B.

Sensory coding and the natural environment, (Editors: Olshausen, B.A. and M. Lewicki), 2004 (poster)

Abstract

The information about the objects in an image is almost exclusively described by the higher-order interactions of its pixels. The Wiener series is one of the standard methods to systematically characterize these interactions. However, the classical estimation method of the Wiener expansion coefficients via cross-correlation suffers from severe problems that prevent its application to high-dimensional and strongly nonlinear signals such as images. We propose an estimation method based on regression in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space that overcomes these problems using polynomial kernels as known from Support Vector Machines and other kernel-based methods. Numerical experiments show performance advantages in terms of convergence, interpretability and system sizes that can be handled. By the time of the conference, we will be able to present first results on the higher-order structure of natural images.

[BibTex]

Franz, M., Schölkopf, B. Implicit Wiener series for capturing higher-order interactions in images Sensory coding and the natural environment, (Editors: Olshausen, B.A. and M. Lewicki), 2004 (poster)

[BibTex]

Classification and Memory Behaviour of Man Revisited by Machine

Graf, A., Wichmann, F., Bülthoff, H., Schölkopf, B.

CSHL Meeting on Computational & Systems Neuroscience (COSYNE), 2004 (poster)

[BibTex]

Graf, A., Wichmann, F., Bülthoff, H., Schölkopf, B. Classification and Memory Behaviour of Man Revisited by Machine CSHL Meeting on Computational & Systems Neuroscience (COSYNE), 2004 (poster)

[BibTex]

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