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An Information-Theoretic Framework for Understanding Saccadic Behaviors
- Tai Sing LEE and Stella X. YU
Conference of Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS'99)
Advance in Neural Information Processing Systems 12, Ed. S.A. Solla, T.K. Leen, K-R. Muller. MIT Press.
- Abstract
- In this paper, we propose that information maximization can provide a unified framework for understanding saccadic eye movements. In this framework, the mutual information among the cortical representations of the retinal image, the priors constructed
from our long term visual experience, and a dynamic shortterm
internal representation constructed from recent saccades provides
a map for guiding eye navigation. By directing the eyes to locations of maximum complexity in neuronal ensemble responses at
each step, the automatic saccadic eye movement system greedily
collects information about the external world, while modifying the
neural representations in the process. This framework attempts
to connect several psychological phenomena, such as popout and
inhibition of return, to long term visual experience and short term
working memory. It also provides an interesting perspective on
contextual computation and formation of neural representation in
the visual system.
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