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201 results (View BibTeX file of all listed publications)

2014

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Juggling revisited — A voxel based morphometry study with expert jugglers

Gerber, P., Schlaffke, L., Heba, S., Greenlee, M., Schultz, T., Schmidt-Wilcke, T.

NeuroImage, 95, pages: 320-325, 2014 (article)

Web DOI [BibTex]

2014

Gerber, P., Schlaffke, L., Heba, S., Greenlee, M., Schultz, T., Schmidt-Wilcke, T. Juggling revisited — A voxel based morphometry study with expert jugglers NeuroImage, 95, pages: 320-325, 2014 (article)

Web DOI [BibTex]

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Assessing attention and cognitive function in completely locked-in state with event-related brain potentials and epidural electrocorticography

Bensch, M., Martens, S., Halder, S., Hill, J., Nijboer, F., Ramos, A., Birbaumer, N., Bodgan, M., Kotchoubey, B., Rosenstiel, W., Schölkopf, B., Gharabaghi, A.

Journal of Neural Engineering, 11(2):026006, 2014 (article)

Abstract
Objective. Patients in the completely locked-in state (CLIS), due to, for example, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), no longer possess voluntary muscle control. Assessing attention and cognitive function in these patients during the course of the disease is a challenging but essential task for both nursing staff and physicians. Approach. An electrophysiological cognition test battery, including auditory and semantic stimuli, was applied in a late-stage ALS patient at four different time points during a six-month epidural electrocorticography (ECoG) recording period. Event-related cortical potentials (ERP), together with changes in the ECoG signal spectrum, were recorded via 128 channels that partially covered the left frontal, temporal and parietal cortex. Main results. Auditory but not semantic stimuli induced significant and reproducible ERP projecting to specific temporal and parietal cortical areas. N1/P2 responses could be detected throughout the whole study period. The highest P3 ERP was measured immediately after the patient's last communication through voluntary muscle control, which was paralleled by low theta and high gamma spectral power. Three months after the patient's last communication, i.e., in the CLIS, P3 responses could no longer be detected. At the same time, increased activity in low-frequency bands and a sharp drop of gamma spectral power were recorded. Significance. Cortical electrophysiological measures indicate at least partially intact attention and cognitive function during sparse volitional motor control for communication. Although the P3 ERP and frequency-specific changes in the ECoG spectrum may serve as indicators for CLIS, a close-meshed monitoring will be required to define the exact time point of the transition.

DOI [BibTex]

Bensch, M., Martens, S., Halder, S., Hill, J., Nijboer, F., Ramos, A., Birbaumer, N., Bodgan, M., Kotchoubey, B., Rosenstiel, W., Schölkopf, B., Gharabaghi, A. Assessing attention and cognitive function in completely locked-in state with event-related brain potentials and epidural electrocorticography Journal of Neural Engineering, 11(2):026006, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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Identifiability of Gaussian Structural Equation Models with Equal Error Variances

Peters, J., Bühlman, P.

Biometrika, 101(1):219-228, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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Quantifying the effect of intertrial dependence on perceptual decisions

Fründ, I., Wichmann, F., Macke, J.

Journal of Vision, 14(7):1-16, 2014 (article)

Web PDF link (url) DOI [BibTex]

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Two numerical models designed to reproduce Saturn ring temperatures as measured by Cassini-CIRS

Altobelli, N., Lopez-Paz, D., Pilorz, S., Spilker, L., Morishima, R., Brooks, S., Leyrat, C., Deau, E., Edgington, S., Flandes, A.

Icarus, 238(0):205 - 220, 2014 (article)

Web link (url) DOI [BibTex]

Altobelli, N., Lopez-Paz, D., Pilorz, S., Spilker, L., Morishima, R., Brooks, S., Leyrat, C., Deau, E., Edgington, S., Flandes, A. Two numerical models designed to reproduce Saturn ring temperatures as measured by Cassini-CIRS Icarus, 238(0):205 - 220, 2014 (article)

Web link (url) DOI [BibTex]

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CAM: Causal Additive Models, high-dimensional order search and penalized regression

Bühlmann, P., Peters, J., Ernest, J.

Annals of Statistics, 42(6):2526-2556, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

Bühlmann, P., Peters, J., Ernest, J. CAM: Causal Additive Models, high-dimensional order search and penalized regression Annals of Statistics, 42(6):2526-2556, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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Policy Evaluation with Temporal Differences: A Survey and Comparison

Dann, C., Neumann, G., Peters, J.

Journal of Machine Learning Research, 15, pages: 809-883, 2014 (article)

PDF [BibTex]

Dann, C., Neumann, G., Peters, J. Policy Evaluation with Temporal Differences: A Survey and Comparison Journal of Machine Learning Research, 15, pages: 809-883, 2014 (article)

PDF [BibTex]

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Uncovering the Structure and Temporal Dynamics of Information Propagation

Gomez Rodriguez, M., Leskovec, J., Balduzzi, D., Schölkopf, B.

Network Science, 2(1):26-65, 2014 (article)

Abstract
Time plays an essential role in the diffusion of information, influence, and disease over networks. In many cases we can only observe when a node is activated by a contagion—when a node learns about a piece of information, makes a decision, adopts a new behavior, or becomes infected with a disease. However, the underlying network connectivity and transmission rates between nodes are unknown. Inferring the underlying diffusion dynamics is important because it leads to new insights and enables forecasting, as well as influencing or containing information propagation. In this paper we model diffusion as a continuous temporal process occurring at different rates over a latent, unobserved network that may change over time. Given information diffusion data, we infer the edges and dynamics of the underlying network. Our model naturally imposes sparse solutions and requires no parameter tuning. We develop an efficient inference algorithm that uses stochastic convex optimization to compute online estimates of the edges and transmission rates. We evaluate our method by tracking information diffusion among 3.3 million mainstream media sites and blogs, and experiment with more than 179 million different instances of information spreading over the network in a one-year period. We apply our network inference algorithm to the top 5,000 media sites and blogs and report several interesting observations. First, information pathways for general recurrent topics are more stable across time than for on-going news events. Second, clusters of news media sites and blogs often emerge and vanish in a matter of days for on-going news events. Finally, major events, for example, large scale civil unrest as in the Libyan civil war or Syrian uprising, increase the number of information pathways among blogs, and also increase the network centrality of blogs and social media sites.

DOI [BibTex]

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Causal discovery via reproducing kernel Hilbert space embeddings

Chen, Z., Zhang, K., Chan, L., Schölkopf, B.

Neural Computation, 26(7):1484-1517, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

Chen, Z., Zhang, K., Chan, L., Schölkopf, B. Causal discovery via reproducing kernel Hilbert space embeddings Neural Computation, 26(7):1484-1517, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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Impact of Large-Scale Climate Extremes on Biospheric Carbon Fluxes: An Intercomparison Based on MsTMIP Data

Zscheischler, J., Michalak, A., Schwalm, M., Mahecha, M., Huntzinger, D., Reichstein, M., Berthier, G., Ciais, P., Cook, R., El-Masri, B., Huang, M., Ito, A., Jain, A., King, A., Lei, H., Lu, C., Mao, J., Peng, S., Poulter, B., Ricciuto, D., Shi, X., Tao, B., Tian, H., Viovy, N., Wang, W., Wei, Y., Yang, J., Zeng, N.

Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2014 (article)

Web DOI [BibTex]

Zscheischler, J., Michalak, A., Schwalm, M., Mahecha, M., Huntzinger, D., Reichstein, M., Berthier, G., Ciais, P., Cook, R., El-Masri, B., Huang, M., Ito, A., Jain, A., King, A., Lei, H., Lu, C., Mao, J., Peng, S., Poulter, B., Ricciuto, D., Shi, X., Tao, B., Tian, H., Viovy, N., Wang, W., Wei, Y., Yang, J., Zeng, N. Impact of Large-Scale Climate Extremes on Biospheric Carbon Fluxes: An Intercomparison Based on MsTMIP Data Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2014 (article)

Web DOI [BibTex]

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A Brain-Computer Interface Based on Self-Regulation of Gamma-Oscillations in the Superior Parietal Cortex

Grosse-Wentrup, M., Schölkopf, B.

Journal of Neural Engineering, 11(5):056015, 2014 (article)

Abstract
Objective. Brain–computer interface (BCI) systems are often based on motor- and/or sensory processes that are known to be impaired in late stages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We propose a novel BCI designed for patients in late stages of ALS that only requires high-level cognitive processes to transmit information from the user to the BCI. Approach. We trained subjects via EEG-based neurofeedback to self-regulate the amplitude of gamma-oscillations in the superior parietal cortex (SPC). We argue that parietal gamma-oscillations are likely to be associated with high-level attentional processes, thereby providing a communication channel that does not rely on the integrity of sensory- and/or motor-pathways impaired in late stages of ALS. Main results. Healthy subjects quickly learned to self-regulate gamma-power in the SPC by alternating between states of focused attention and relaxed wakefulness, resulting in an average decoding accuracy of 70.2%. One locked-in ALS patient (ALS-FRS-R score of zero) achieved an average decoding accuracy significantly above chance-level though insufficient for communication (55.8%). Significance. Self-regulation of gamma-power in the SPC is a feasible paradigm for brain–computer interfacing and may be preserved in late stages of ALS. This provides a novel approach to testing whether completely locked-in ALS patients retain the capacity for goal-directed thinking.

Web DOI [BibTex]

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On power law distributions in large-scale taxonomies

Babbar, R., Metzig, C., Partalas, I., Gaussier, E., Amini, M.

SIGKDD Explorations, Special Issue on Big Data, 16(1):47-56, 2014 (article)

[BibTex]

Babbar, R., Metzig, C., Partalas, I., Gaussier, E., Amini, M. On power law distributions in large-scale taxonomies SIGKDD Explorations, Special Issue on Big Data, 16(1):47-56, 2014 (article)

[BibTex]

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Predicting Motor Learning Performance from Electroencephalographic Data

Meyer, T., Peters, J., Zander, T., Schölkopf, B., Grosse-Wentrup, M.

Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 11:24, 2014 (article)

PDF DOI [BibTex]

Meyer, T., Peters, J., Zander, T., Schölkopf, B., Grosse-Wentrup, M. Predicting Motor Learning Performance from Electroencephalographic Data Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 11:24, 2014 (article)

PDF DOI [BibTex]

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Special issue on autonomous grasping and manipulation

Ben Amor, H., Saxena, A., Hudson, N., Peters, J.

Autonomous Robots, 36(1-2):1-3, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

Ben Amor, H., Saxena, A., Hudson, N., Peters, J. Special issue on autonomous grasping and manipulation Autonomous Robots, 36(1-2):1-3, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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Evaluation of Positron Emission Tomographic Tracers for Imaging of Papillomavirus-Induced Tumors in Rabbits

Probst, S., Wiehr, S., Mantlik, F., Schmidt, H., Kolb, A., Münch, P., Delcuratolo, M., Stubenrauch, F., Pichler, B., Iftner, T.

Molecular Imaging, 13(1):1536-0121, 2014 (article)

Web [BibTex]

Probst, S., Wiehr, S., Mantlik, F., Schmidt, H., Kolb, A., Münch, P., Delcuratolo, M., Stubenrauch, F., Pichler, B., Iftner, T. Evaluation of Positron Emission Tomographic Tracers for Imaging of Papillomavirus-Induced Tumors in Rabbits Molecular Imaging, 13(1):1536-0121, 2014 (article)

Web [BibTex]

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Extreme events in gross primary production: a characterization across continents

Zscheischler, J., Reichstein, M., Harmeling, S., Rammig, A., Tomelleri, E., Mahecha, M.

Biogeosciences, 11, pages: 2909-2924, 2014 (article)

PDF Web DOI [BibTex]

Zscheischler, J., Reichstein, M., Harmeling, S., Rammig, A., Tomelleri, E., Mahecha, M. Extreme events in gross primary production: a characterization across continents Biogeosciences, 11, pages: 2909-2924, 2014 (article)

PDF Web DOI [BibTex]

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Indirect Robot Model Learning for Tracking Control

Bocsi, B., Csató, L., Peters, J.

Advanced Robotics, 28(9):589-599, 2014 (article)

PDF DOI [BibTex]

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An extended approach for spatiotemporal gapfilling: dealing with large and systematic gaps in geoscientific datasets

v Buttlar, J., Zscheischler, J., Mahecha, M.

Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 21(1):203-215, 2014 (article)

PDF DOI [BibTex]

v Buttlar, J., Zscheischler, J., Mahecha, M. An extended approach for spatiotemporal gapfilling: dealing with large and systematic gaps in geoscientific datasets Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 21(1):203-215, 2014 (article)

PDF DOI [BibTex]

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On the Quantification Accuracy, Homogeneity, and Stability of Simultaneous Positron Emission Tomography/Magnetic Resonance Imaging Systems

Schmidt, H., Schwenzer, N., Bezrukov, I., Mantlik, F., Kolb, A., Kupferschläger, J., Pichler, B.

Investigative Radiology, 49(6):373-381, 2014 (article)

Web DOI [BibTex]

Schmidt, H., Schwenzer, N., Bezrukov, I., Mantlik, F., Kolb, A., Kupferschläger, J., Pichler, B. On the Quantification Accuracy, Homogeneity, and Stability of Simultaneous Positron Emission Tomography/Magnetic Resonance Imaging Systems Investigative Radiology, 49(6):373-381, 2014 (article)

Web DOI [BibTex]

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Natural Evolution Strategies

Wierstra, D., Schaul, T., Glasmachers, T., Sun, Y., Peters, J., Schmidhuber, J.

Journal of Machine Learning Research, 15, pages: 949-980, 2014 (article)

PDF [BibTex]

Wierstra, D., Schaul, T., Glasmachers, T., Sun, Y., Peters, J., Schmidhuber, J. Natural Evolution Strategies Journal of Machine Learning Research, 15, pages: 949-980, 2014 (article)

PDF [BibTex]

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Factors controlling decomposition rates of fine root litter in temperate forests and grasslands

Solly, E., Schöning, I., Boch, S., Kandeler, E., Marhan, S., Michalzik, B., Müller, J., Zscheischler, J., Trumbore, S., Schrumpf, M.

Plant and Soil, 2014 (article)

PDF DOI [BibTex]

Solly, E., Schöning, I., Boch, S., Kandeler, E., Marhan, S., Michalzik, B., Müller, J., Zscheischler, J., Trumbore, S., Schrumpf, M. Factors controlling decomposition rates of fine root litter in temperate forests and grasslands Plant and Soil, 2014 (article)

PDF DOI [BibTex]

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Causal Discovery with Continuous Additive Noise Models

Peters, J., Mooij, J., Janzing, D., Schölkopf, B.

Journal of Machine Learning Research, 15, pages: 2009-2053, 2014 (article)

PDF Web [BibTex]

Peters, J., Mooij, J., Janzing, D., Schölkopf, B. Causal Discovery with Continuous Additive Noise Models Journal of Machine Learning Research, 15, pages: 2009-2053, 2014 (article)

PDF Web [BibTex]

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A few extreme events dominate global interannual variability in gross primary production

Zscheischler, J., Mahecha, M., v Buttlar, J., Harmeling, S., Jung, M., Rammig, A., Randerson, J., Schölkopf, B., Seneviratne, S., Tomelleri, E., Zaehle, S., Reichstein, M.

Environmental Research Letters, 9(3):035001, 2014 (article)

PDF Web DOI [BibTex]

Zscheischler, J., Mahecha, M., v Buttlar, J., Harmeling, S., Jung, M., Rammig, A., Randerson, J., Schölkopf, B., Seneviratne, S., Tomelleri, E., Zaehle, S., Reichstein, M. A few extreme events dominate global interannual variability in gross primary production Environmental Research Letters, 9(3):035001, 2014 (article)

PDF Web DOI [BibTex]

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Kernel methods in system identification, machine learning and function estimation: A survey

Pillonetto, G., Dinuzzo, F., Chen, T., De Nicolao, G., Ljung, L.

Automatica, 50(3):657-682, 2014 (article)

Web DOI [BibTex]

Pillonetto, G., Dinuzzo, F., Chen, T., De Nicolao, G., Ljung, L. Kernel methods in system identification, machine learning and function estimation: A survey Automatica, 50(3):657-682, 2014 (article)

Web DOI [BibTex]

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Development of a novel depth of interaction PET detector using highly multiplexed G-APD cross-strip encoding

Kolb, A., Parl, C., Mantlik, F., Liu, C., Lorenz, E., Renker, D., Pichler, B.

Medical Physics, 41(8), 2014 (article)

Web DOI [BibTex]

Kolb, A., Parl, C., Mantlik, F., Liu, C., Lorenz, E., Renker, D., Pichler, B. Development of a novel depth of interaction PET detector using highly multiplexed G-APD cross-strip encoding Medical Physics, 41(8), 2014 (article)

Web DOI [BibTex]

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Epidural electrocorticography for monitoring of arousal in locked-in state

Martens, S., Bensch, M., Halder, S., Hill, J., Nijboer, F., Ramos-Murguialday, A., Schölkopf, B., Birbaumer, N., Gharabaghi, A.

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8(861), 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

Martens, S., Bensch, M., Halder, S., Hill, J., Nijboer, F., Ramos-Murguialday, A., Schölkopf, B., Birbaumer, N., Gharabaghi, A. Epidural electrocorticography for monitoring of arousal in locked-in state Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8(861), 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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Simultaneous Whole-Body PET/MR Imaging in Comparison to PET/CT in Pediatric Oncology: Initial Results

Schäfer, J. F., Gatidis, S., Schmidt, H., Gückel, B., Bezrukov, I., Pfannenberg, C. A., Reimold, M., M., E., Fuchs, J., Claussen, C. D., Schwenzer, N. F.

Radiology, 273(1):220-231, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

Schäfer, J. F., Gatidis, S., Schmidt, H., Gückel, B., Bezrukov, I., Pfannenberg, C. A., Reimold, M., M., E., Fuchs, J., Claussen, C. D., Schwenzer, N. F. Simultaneous Whole-Body PET/MR Imaging in Comparison to PET/CT in Pediatric Oncology: Initial Results Radiology, 273(1):220-231, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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Cost-Sensitive Active Learning With Lookahead: Optimizing Field Surveys for Remote Sensing Data Classification

Persello, C., Boularias, A., Dalponte, M., Gobakken, T., Naesset, E., Schölkopf, B.

IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 10(52):6652 - 6664, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

Persello, C., Boularias, A., Dalponte, M., Gobakken, T., Naesset, E., Schölkopf, B. Cost-Sensitive Active Learning With Lookahead: Optimizing Field Surveys for Remote Sensing Data Classification IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 10(52):6652 - 6664, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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Principles of PET/MR Imaging

Disselhorst, J. A., Bezrukov, I., Kolb, A., Parl, C., Pichler, B. J.

Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 55(6, Supplement 2):2S-10S, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

Disselhorst, J. A., Bezrukov, I., Kolb, A., Parl, C., Pichler, B. J. Principles of PET/MR Imaging Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 55(6, Supplement 2):2S-10S, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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IM3SHAPE: Maximum likelihood galaxy shear measurement code for cosmic gravitational lensing

Zuntz, J., Kacprzak, T., Voigt, L., Hirsch, M., Rowe, B., Bridle, S.

Astrophysics Source Code Library, 1, pages: 09013, 2014 (article)

link (url) [BibTex]

Zuntz, J., Kacprzak, T., Voigt, L., Hirsch, M., Rowe, B., Bridle, S. IM3SHAPE: Maximum likelihood galaxy shear measurement code for cosmic gravitational lensing Astrophysics Source Code Library, 1, pages: 09013, 2014 (article)

link (url) [BibTex]

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Efficient nearest neighbors via robust sparse hashing

Cherian, A., Sra, S., Morellas, V., Papanikolopoulos, N.

IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 23(8):3646-3655, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

Cherian, A., Sra, S., Morellas, V., Papanikolopoulos, N. Efficient nearest neighbors via robust sparse hashing IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 23(8):3646-3655, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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Domain adaptation-can quantity compensate for quality?

Ben-David, S., Urner, R.

Annals of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence, 70(3):185-202, 2014 (article)

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

Ben-David, S., Urner, R. Domain adaptation-can quantity compensate for quality? Annals of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence, 70(3):185-202, 2014 (article)

link (url) DOI [BibTex]

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Sérsic galaxy models in weak lensing shape measurement: model bias, noise bias and their interaction

Kacprzak, T., Bridle, S., Rowe, B., Voigt, L., Zuntz, J., Hirsch, M., MacCrann, N.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 441(3):2528-2538, Oxford University Press, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

Kacprzak, T., Bridle, S., Rowe, B., Voigt, L., Zuntz, J., Hirsch, M., MacCrann, N. Sérsic galaxy models in weak lensing shape measurement: model bias, noise bias and their interaction Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 441(3):2528-2538, Oxford University Press, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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Diminished White Matter Integrity in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Schmidt-Wilcke, T., Cagnoli, P., Wang, P., Schultz, T., Lotz, A., Mccune, W. J., Sundgren, P. C.

NeuroImage: Clinical, 5, pages: 291-297, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

Schmidt-Wilcke, T., Cagnoli, P., Wang, P., Schultz, T., Lotz, A., Mccune, W. J., Sundgren, P. C. Diminished White Matter Integrity in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus NeuroImage: Clinical, 5, pages: 291-297, 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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Information-Theoretic Bounded Rationality and ϵ-Optimality

Braun, DA, Ortega, PA

Entropy, 16(8):4662-4676, August 2014 (article)

Abstract
Bounded rationality concerns the study of decision makers with limited information processing resources. Previously, the free energy difference functional has been suggested to model bounded rational decision making, as it provides a natural trade-off between an energy or utility function that is to be optimized and information processing costs that are measured by entropic search costs. The main question of this article is how the information-theoretic free energy model relates to simple \(\epsilon\)-optimality models of bounded rational decision making, where the decision maker is satisfied with any action in an \(\epsilon\)-neighborhood of the optimal utility. We find that the stochastic policies that optimize the free energy trade-off comply with the notion of \(\epsilon\)-optimality. Moreover, this optimality criterion even holds when the environment is adversarial. We conclude that the study of bounded rationality based on \(\epsilon\)-optimality criteria that abstract away from the particulars of the information processing constraints is compatible with the information-theoretic free energy model of bounded rationality.

DOI [BibTex]

Braun, DA, Ortega, PA Information-Theoretic Bounded Rationality and ϵ-Optimality Entropy, 16(8):4662-4676, August 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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Occam’s Razor in sensorimotor learning

Genewein, T, Braun, D

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 281(1783):1-7, May 2014 (article)

Abstract
A large number of recent studies suggest that the sensorimotor system uses probabilistic models to predict its environment and makes inferences about unobserved variables in line with Bayesian statistics. One of the important features of Bayesian statistics is Occam's Razor—an inbuilt preference for simpler models when comparing competing models that explain some observed data equally well. Here, we test directly for Occam's Razor in sensorimotor control. We designed a sensorimotor task in which participants had to draw lines through clouds of noisy samples of an unobserved curve generated by one of two possible probabilistic models—a simple model with a large length scale, leading to smooth curves, and a complex model with a short length scale, leading to more wiggly curves. In training trials, participants were informed about the model that generated the stimulus so that they could learn the statistics of each model. In probe trials, participants were then exposed to ambiguous stimuli. In probe trials where the ambiguous stimulus could be fitted equally well by both models, we found that participants showed a clear preference for the simpler model. Moreover, we found that participants’ choice behaviour was quantitatively consistent with Bayesian Occam's Razor. We also show that participants’ drawn trajectories were similar to samples from the Bayesian predictive distribution over trajectories and significantly different from two non-probabilistic heuristics. In two control experiments, we show that the preference of the simpler model cannot be simply explained by a difference in physical effort or by a preference for curve smoothness. Our results suggest that Occam's Razor is a general behavioural principle already present during sensorimotor processing.

DOI [BibTex]

Genewein, T, Braun, D Occam’s Razor in sensorimotor learning Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 281(1783):1-7, May 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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Generalized Thompson sampling for sequential decision-making and causal inference

Ortega, PA, Braun, DA

Complex Adaptive Systems Modeling, 2(2):1-23, March 2014 (article)

Abstract
Purpose Sampling an action according to the probability that the action is believed to be the optimal one is sometimes called Thompson sampling. Methods Although mostly applied to bandit problems, Thompson sampling can also be used to solve sequential adaptive control problems, when the optimal policy is known for each possible environment. The predictive distribution over actions can then be constructed by a Bayesian superposition of the policies weighted by their posterior probability of being optimal. Results Here we discuss two important features of this approach. First, we show in how far such generalized Thompson sampling can be regarded as an optimal strategy under limited information processing capabilities that constrain the sampling complexity of the decision-making process. Second, we show how such Thompson sampling can be extended to solve causal inference problems when interacting with an environment in a sequential fashion. Conclusion In summary, our results suggest that Thompson sampling might not merely be a useful heuristic, but a principled method to address problems of adaptive sequential decision-making and causal inference.

DOI [BibTex]

Ortega, PA, Braun, DA Generalized Thompson sampling for sequential decision-making and causal inference Complex Adaptive Systems Modeling, 2(2):1-23, March 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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Assessing randomness and complexity in human motion trajectories through analysis of symbolic sequences

Peng, Z, Genewein, T, Braun, DA

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8(168):1-13, March 2014 (article)

Abstract
Complexity is a hallmark of intelligent behavior consisting both of regular patterns and random variation. To quantitatively assess the complexity and randomness of human motion, we designed a motor task in which we translated subjects' motion trajectories into strings of symbol sequences. In the first part of the experiment participants were asked to perform self-paced movements to create repetitive patterns, copy pre-specified letter sequences, and generate random movements. To investigate whether the degree of randomness can be manipulated, in the second part of the experiment participants were asked to perform unpredictable movements in the context of a pursuit game, where they received feedback from an online Bayesian predictor guessing their next move. We analyzed symbol sequences representing subjects' motion trajectories with five common complexity measures: predictability, compressibility, approximate entropy, Lempel-Ziv complexity, as well as effective measure complexity. We found that subjects’ self-created patterns were the most complex, followed by drawing movements of letters and self-paced random motion. We also found that participants could change the randomness of their behavior depending on context and feedback. Our results suggest that humans can adjust both complexity and regularity in different movement types and contexts and that this can be assessed with information-theoretic measures of the symbolic sequences generated from movement trajectories.

DOI [BibTex]

Peng, Z, Genewein, T, Braun, DA Assessing randomness and complexity in human motion trajectories through analysis of symbolic sequences Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8(168):1-13, March 2014 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

2013

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Correlation of Simultaneously Acquired Diffusion-Weighted Imaging and 2-Deoxy-[18F] fluoro-2-D-glucose Positron Emission Tomography of Pulmonary Lesions in a Dedicated Whole-Body Magnetic Resonance/Positron Emission Tomography System

Schmidt, H., Brendle, C., Schraml, C., Martirosian, P., Bezrukov, I., Hetzel, J., Müller, M., Sauter, A., Claussen, C., Pfannenberg, C., Schwenzer, N.

Investigative Radiology, 48(5):247-255, May 2013 (article)

Web [BibTex]

2013

Schmidt, H., Brendle, C., Schraml, C., Martirosian, P., Bezrukov, I., Hetzel, J., Müller, M., Sauter, A., Claussen, C., Pfannenberg, C., Schwenzer, N. Correlation of Simultaneously Acquired Diffusion-Weighted Imaging and 2-Deoxy-[18F] fluoro-2-D-glucose Positron Emission Tomography of Pulmonary Lesions in a Dedicated Whole-Body Magnetic Resonance/Positron Emission Tomography System Investigative Radiology, 48(5):247-255, May 2013 (article)

Web [BibTex]

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Replacing Causal Faithfulness with Algorithmic Independence of Conditionals

Lemeire, J., Janzing, D.

Minds and Machines, 23(2):227-249, May 2013 (article)

Abstract
Independence of Conditionals (IC) has recently been proposed as a basic rule for causal structure learning. If a Bayesian network represents the causal structure, its Conditional Probability Distributions (CPDs) should be algorithmically independent. In this paper we compare IC with causal faithfulness (FF), stating that only those conditional independences that are implied by the causal Markov condition hold true. The latter is a basic postulate in common approaches to causal structure learning. The common spirit of FF and IC is to reject causal graphs for which the joint distribution looks ‘non-generic’. The difference lies in the notion of genericity: FF sometimes rejects models just because one of the CPDs is simple, for instance if the CPD describes a deterministic relation. IC does not behave in this undesirable way. It only rejects a model when there is a non-generic relation between different CPDs although each CPD looks generic when considered separately. Moreover, it detects relations between CPDs that cannot be captured by conditional independences. IC therefore helps in distinguishing causal graphs that induce the same conditional independences (i.e., they belong to the same Markov equivalence class). The usual justification for FF implicitly assumes a prior that is a probability density on the parameter space. IC can be justified by Solomonoff’s universal prior, assigning non-zero probability to those points in parameter space that have a finite description. In this way, it favours simple CPDs, and therefore respects Occam’s razor. Since Kolmogorov complexity is uncomputable, IC is not directly applicable in practice. We argue that it is nevertheless helpful, since it has already served as inspiration and justification for novel causal inference algorithms.

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Lemeire, J., Janzing, D. Replacing Causal Faithfulness with Algorithmic Independence of Conditionals Minds and Machines, 23(2):227-249, May 2013 (article)

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What can neurons do for their brain? Communicate selectivity with bursts

Balduzzi, D., Tononi, G.

Theory in Biosciences , 132(1):27-39, Springer, March 2013 (article)

Abstract
Neurons deep in cortex interact with the environment extremely indirectly; the spikes they receive and produce are pre- and post-processed by millions of other neurons. This paper proposes two information-theoretic constraints guiding the production of spikes, that help ensure bursting activity deep in cortex relates meaningfully to events in the environment. First, neurons should emphasize selective responses with bursts. Second, neurons should propagate selective inputs by burst-firing in response to them. We show the constraints are necessary for bursts to dominate information-transfer within cortex, thereby providing a substrate allowing neurons to distribute credit amongst themselves. Finally, since synaptic plasticity degrades the ability of neurons to burst selectively, we argue that homeostatic regulation of synaptic weights is necessary, and that it is best performed offline during sleep.

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Balduzzi, D., Tononi, G. What can neurons do for their brain? Communicate selectivity with bursts Theory in Biosciences , 132(1):27-39, Springer, March 2013 (article)

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Apprenticeship Learning with Few Examples

Boularias, A., Chaib-draa, B.

Neurocomputing, 104, pages: 83-96, March 2013 (article)

Abstract
We consider the problem of imitation learning when the examples, provided by an expert human, are scarce. Apprenticeship learning via inverse reinforcement learning provides an efficient tool for generalizing the examples, based on the assumption that the expert's policy maximizes a value function, which is a linear combination of state and action features. Most apprenticeship learning algorithms use only simple empirical averages of the features in the demonstrations as a statistics of the expert's policy. However, this method is efficient only when the number of examples is sufficiently large to cover most of the states, or the dynamics of the system is nearly deterministic. In this paper, we show that the quality of the learned policies is sensitive to the error in estimating the averages of the features when the dynamics of the system is stochastic. To reduce this error, we introduce two new approaches for bootstrapping the demonstrations by assuming that the expert is near-optimal and the dynamics of the system is known. In the first approach, the expert's examples are used to learn a reward function and to generate furthermore examples from the corresponding optimal policy. The second approach uses a transfer technique, known as graph homomorphism, in order to generalize the expert's actions to unvisited regions of the state space. Empirical results on simulated robot navigation problems show that our approach is able to learn sufficiently good policies from a significantly small number of examples.

Web DOI [BibTex]

Boularias, A., Chaib-draa, B. Apprenticeship Learning with Few Examples Neurocomputing, 104, pages: 83-96, March 2013 (article)

Web DOI [BibTex]

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Quasi-Newton Methods: A New Direction

Hennig, P., Kiefel, M.

Journal of Machine Learning Research, 14(1):843-865, March 2013 (article)

Abstract
Four decades after their invention, quasi-Newton methods are still state of the art in unconstrained numerical optimization. Although not usually interpreted thus, these are learning algorithms that fit a local quadratic approximation to the objective function. We show that many, including the most popular, quasi-Newton methods can be interpreted as approximations of Bayesian linear regression under varying prior assumptions. This new notion elucidates some shortcomings of classical algorithms, and lights the way to a novel nonparametric quasi-Newton method, which is able to make more efficient use of available information at computational cost similar to its predecessors.

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Hennig, P., Kiefel, M. Quasi-Newton Methods: A New Direction Journal of Machine Learning Research, 14(1):843-865, March 2013 (article)

website+code pdf link (url) [BibTex]

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Regional effects of magnetization dispersion on quantitative perfusion imaging for pulsed and continuous arterial spin labeling

Cavusoglu, M., Pohmann, R., Burger, H. C., Uludag, K.

Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 69(2):524-530, Febuary 2013 (article)

Abstract
Most experiments assume a global transit delay time with blood flowing from the tagging region to the imaging slice in plug flow without any dispersion of the magnetization. However, because of cardiac pulsation, nonuniform cross-sectional flow profile, and complex vessel networks, the transit delay time is not a single value but follows a distribution. In this study, we explored the regional effects of magnetization dispersion on quantitative perfusion imaging for varying transit times within a very large interval from the direct comparison of pulsed, pseudo-continuous, and dual-coil continuous arterial spin labeling encoding schemes. Longer distances between tagging and imaging region typically used for continuous tagging schemes enhance the regional bias on the quantitative cerebral blood flow measurement causing an underestimation up to 37% when plug flow is assumed as in the standard model.

Web DOI [BibTex]

Cavusoglu, M., Pohmann, R., Burger, H. C., Uludag, K. Regional effects of magnetization dispersion on quantitative perfusion imaging for pulsed and continuous arterial spin labeling Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 69(2):524-530, Febuary 2013 (article)

Web DOI [BibTex]

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The multivariate Watson distribution: Maximum-likelihood estimation and other aspects

Sra, S., Karp, D.

Journal of Multivariate Analysis, 114, pages: 256-269, February 2013 (article)

Abstract
This paper studies fundamental aspects of modelling data using multivariate Watson distributions. Although these distributions are natural for modelling axially symmetric data (i.e., unit vectors where View the MathML source are equivalent), for high-dimensions using them can be difficult—largely because for Watson distributions even basic tasks such as maximum-likelihood are numerically challenging. To tackle the numerical difficulties some approximations have been derived. But these are either grossly inaccurate in high-dimensions [K.V. Mardia, P. Jupp, Directional Statistics, second ed., John Wiley & Sons, 2000] or when reasonably accurate [A. Bijral, M. Breitenbach, G.Z. Grudic, Mixture of Watson distributions: a generative model for hyperspherical embeddings, in: Artificial Intelligence and Statistics, AISTATS 2007, 2007, pp. 35–42], they lack theoretical justification. We derive new approximations to the maximum-likelihood estimates; our approximations are theoretically well-defined, numerically accurate, and easy to compute. We build on our parameter estimation and discuss mixture-modelling with Watson distributions; here we uncover a hitherto unknown connection to the “diametrical clustering” algorithm of Dhillon et al. [I.S. Dhillon, E.M. Marcotte, U. Roshan, Diametrical clustering for identifying anticorrelated gene clusters, Bioinformatics 19 (13) (2003) 1612–1619].

Web DOI [BibTex]

Sra, S., Karp, D. The multivariate Watson distribution: Maximum-likelihood estimation and other aspects Journal of Multivariate Analysis, 114, pages: 256-269, February 2013 (article)

Web DOI [BibTex]

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How the result of graph clustering methods depends on the construction of the graph

Maier, M., von Luxburg, U., Hein, M.

ESAIM: Probability & Statistics, 17, pages: 370-418, January 2013 (article)

Abstract
We study the scenario of graph-based clustering algorithms such as spectral clustering. Given a set of data points, one rst has to construct a graph on the data points and then apply a graph clustering algorithm to nd a suitable partition of the graph. Our main question is if and how the construction of the graph (choice of the graph, choice of parameters, choice of weights) in uences the outcome of the nal clustering result. To this end we study the convergence of cluster quality measures such as the normalized cut or the Cheeger cut on various kinds of random geometric graphs as the sample size tends to in nity. It turns out that the limit values of the same objective function are systematically di erent on di erent types of graphs. This implies that clustering results systematically depend on the graph and can be very di erent for di erent types of graph. We provide examples to illustrate the implications on spectral clustering.

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Explicit eigenvalues of certain scaled trigonometric matrices

Sra, S.

Linear Algebra and its Applications, 438(1):173-181, January 2013 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

Sra, S. Explicit eigenvalues of certain scaled trigonometric matrices Linear Algebra and its Applications, 438(1):173-181, January 2013 (article)

DOI [BibTex]

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How Sensitive Is the Human Visual System to the Local Statistics of Natural Images?

Gerhard, H., Wichmann, F., Bethge, M.

PLoS Computational Biology, 9(1):e1002873, January 2013 (article)

Abstract
Several aspects of primate visual physiology have been identified as adaptations to local regularities of natural images. However, much less work has measured visual sensitivity to local natural image regularities. Most previous work focuses on global perception of large images and shows that observers are more sensitive to visual information when image properties resemble those of natural images. In this work we measure human sensitivity to local natural image regularities using stimuli generated by patch-based probabilistic natural image models that have been related to primate visual physiology. We find that human observers can learn to discriminate the statistical regularities of natural image patches from those represented by current natural image models after very few exposures and that discriminability depends on the degree of regularities captured by the model. The quick learning we observed suggests that the human visual system is biased for processing natural images, even at very fine spatial scales, and that it has a surprisingly large knowledge of the regularities in natural images, at least in comparison to the state-of-the-art statistical models of natural images.

DOI [BibTex]

Gerhard, H., Wichmann, F., Bethge, M. How Sensitive Is the Human Visual System to the Local Statistics of Natural Images? PLoS Computational Biology, 9(1):e1002873, January 2013 (article)

DOI [BibTex]