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    Keywords

  • Theoretical Neuroscience
  • Computational Neuroscience
  • Uncertainty
  • Bayesian Models
  • Reinforcement Learning
  • Neural Circuits
  • Equipment & Techniques

  • Computational modelling
  • Behavioural analysis
  • Statistical analysis
  • Signal processing
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    Professor Máté Lengyel

    University Position
    Professor
    Professor Máté Lengyel is pleased to consider applications from prospective PhD students.

    Interests

    Our group studies learning and memory from computational, algorithmic/representational and neurobiological viewpoints. We also maintain an active interest in the possible computational functions of neural oscillations, particularly those present in the hippocampus and neocortex. Computationally and algorithmically, we use ideas from Bayesian approaches to statistical inference and reinforcement learning to characterize the goals and mechanisms of learning in terms of normative principles and behavioral results. We also perform dynamical systems analyses of reduced biophysical models to understand the mapping of these mechanisms into cellular and network models. We collaborate very closely with experimental neuroscience groups, doing in vitro intracellular recordings, multi-unit recordings in behaving animals, and human psychophysical experiments.

    Key Publications

    Optimal information loading into working memory explains dynamic coding in the prefrontal cortex

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2307991120
    Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
    E-pub date: 28 Nov 2023
    Authors: JP Stroud, K Watanabe, T Suzuki, MG Stokes, M Lengyel

    Contextual inference underlies the learning of sensorimotor repertoires.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04129-3
    Journal: Nature
    E-pub date: 1 Dec 2021
    Authors: JB Heald, M Lengyel, DM Wolpert

    Cortical-like dynamics in recurrent circuits optimized for sampling-based probabilistic inference.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-020-0671-1
    Journal: Nat Neurosci
    E-pub date: 1 Sep 2020
    Authors: R Echeveste, L Aitchison, G Hennequin, M Lengyel

    Global and Multiplexed Dendritic Computations under In Vivo-like Conditions.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2018.08.032
    Journal: Neuron
    E-pub date: 7 Nov 2018
    Authors: BB Ujfalussy, JK Makara, M Lengyel, T Branco

    Neural Variability and Sampling-Based Probabilistic Representations in the Visual Cortex.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.09.038
    Journal: Neuron
    E-pub date: 19 Oct 2016
    Authors: G Orbán, P Berkes, J Fiser, M Lengyel

    Cognitive tomography reveals complex, task-independent mental representations.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.09.012
    Journal: Curr Biol
    E-pub date: 4 Nov 2013
    Authors: NMT Houlsby, F Huszár, MM Ghassemi, G Orbán, DM Wolpert, M Lengyel

    Spontaneous cortical activity reveals hallmarks of an optimal internal model of the environment.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1126/science.1195870
    Journal: Science
    E-pub date: 7 Jan 2011
    Authors: P Berkes, G Orbán, M Lengyel, J Fiser

    Statistically optimal perception and learning: from behavior to neural representations.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2010.01.003
    Journal: Trends Cogn Sci
    E-pub date: 1 Mar 2010
    Authors: J Fiser, P Berkes, G Orbán, M Lengyel

    Bayesian learning of visual chunks by human observers.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0708424105
    Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
    E-pub date: 19 Feb 2008
    Authors: G Orbán, J Fiser, RN Aslin, M Lengyel

    Matching storage and recall: hippocampal spike timing-dependent plasticity and phase response curves.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/nn1561
    Journal: Nat Neurosci
    E-pub date: 1 Dec 2005
    Authors: M Lengyel, J Kwag, O Paulsen, P Dayan

    Dynamically detuned oscillations account for the coupled rate and temporal code of place cell firing.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.10116
    Journal: Hippocampus
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2003
    Authors: M Lengyel, Z Szatmáry, P Erdi

    Publications

    Ignorance is bliss: effects of noise and metabolic cost on cortical task representations

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1101/2023.07.11.548492
    Journal:
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2023
    Authors: J Stroud, M Wójcik, K Jensen, M Kusunoki, M Kadohisa, J Duncan, M Stokes, M Lengyel

    The Computational and Neural Bases of Context-Dependent Learning.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-092322-100402
    Journal: Annu Rev Neurosci
    E-pub date: 10 Jul 2023
    Authors: JB Heald, DM Wolpert, M Lengyel

    Parallel functional architectures within a single dendritic tree.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112386
    Journal: Cell Rep
    E-pub date: 25 Apr 2023
    Authors: YJ Kim, BB Ujfalussy, M Lengyel

    Spatial uncertainty and environmental geometry in navigation.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1101/2023.01.30.526278
    Journal:
    E-pub date: 1 Feb 2023
    Authors: YH Kang, DM Wolpert, M Lengyel

    Contextual inference in learning and memory.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.10.004
    Journal: Trends Cogn Sci
    E-pub date: 1 Jan 2023
    Authors: JB Heald, M Lengyel, DM Wolpert

    Beyond the Euclidean brain: inferring non-Euclidean latent trajectories from spike trains

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.11.490308
    Journal:
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2022
    Authors: K Jensen, D Liu, T-C Kao, M Lengyel, G Hennequin

    Adaptive erasure of spurious sequences in sensory cortical circuits.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.03.006
    Journal: Neuron
    E-pub date: 1 Jun 2022
    Authors: A Bernacchia, J Fiser, G Hennequin, M Lengyel

    Planning in the brain.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.12.018
    Journal: Neuron
    E-pub date: 16 Mar 2022
    Authors: MG Mattar, M Lengyel

    Optimal information loading into working memory in prefrontal cortex explains dynamic coding

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.16.468360
    Journal:
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2021
    Authors: J Stroud, K Watanabe, T Suzuki, M Stokes, M Lengyel

    Representations of uncertainty: where art thou?

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.03.009
    Journal: Curr Opin Behav Sci
    E-pub date: 1 Apr 2021
    Authors: Á Koblinger, J Fiser, M Lengyel

    Editorial overview: Computational neuroscience.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2019.09.015
    Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
    E-pub date: 1 Oct 2019
    Authors: B Doiron, M Lengyel

    Representational untangling by the firing rate nonlinearity in V1 simple cells.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43625
    Journal: Elife
    E-pub date: 10 Sep 2019
    Authors: ME Gáspár, P-O Polack, P Golshani, M Lengyel, G Orbán

    Cortical-like dynamics in recurrent circuits optimized for sampling-based probabilistic inference

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1101/696088
    Journal:
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2019
    Authors: R Echeveste, L Aitchison, G Hennequin, M Lengyel

    Unimodal statistical learning produces multimodal object-like representations.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43942
    Journal: Elife
    E-pub date: 1 May 2019
    Authors: G Lengyel, G Žalalytė, A Pantelides, JN Ingram, J Fiser, M Lengyel, DM Wolpert

    The Redemption of Noise: Inference with Neural Populations.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2018.09.003
    Journal: Trends Neurosci
    E-pub date: 1 Nov 2018
    Authors: R Echeveste, M Lengyel

    Theoretical perspectives on active sensing.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.06.009
    Journal: Curr Opin Behav Sci
    E-pub date: 1 Oct 2018
    Authors: SC-H Yang, DM Wolpert, M Lengyel

    With or without you: predictive coding and Bayesian inference in the brain.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2017.08.010
    Journal: Curr Opin Neurobiol
    E-pub date: 1 Oct 2017
    Authors: L Aitchison, M Lengyel

    Statistical treatment of looking-time data.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000083
    Journal: Dev Psychol
    E-pub date: 1 Apr 2016
    Authors: G Csibra, M Hernik, O Mascaro, D Tatone, M Lengyel

    Active sensing in the categorization of visual patterns.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12215
    Journal: Elife
    E-pub date: 10 Feb 2016
    Authors: SC-H Yang, M Lengyel, DM Wolpert

    Goal-Directed Decision Making with Spiking Neurons.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2854-15.2016
    Journal: J Neurosci
    E-pub date: 3 Feb 2016
    Authors: J Friedrich, M Lengyel

    Dendritic nonlinearities are tuned for efficient spike-based computations in cortical circuits.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10056
    Journal: Elife
    E-pub date: 24 Dec 2015
    Authors: BB Ujfalussy, JK Makara, T Branco, M Lengyel

    Synapses with short-term plasticity are optimal estimators of presynaptic membrane potentials.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2640
    Journal: Nat Neurosci
    E-pub date: 1 Oct 2010
    Authors: J-P Pfister, P Dayan, M Lengyel

    The role of ongoing dendritic oscillations in single-neuron dynamics.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000493
    Journal: PLoS Comput Biol
    E-pub date: 1 Sep 2009
    Authors: MWH Remme, M Lengyel, BS Gutkin

    Phase coding: spikes get a boost from local fields.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2008.02.062
    Journal: Curr Biol
    E-pub date: 22 Apr 2008
    Authors: PE Latham, M Lengyel

    Theta oscillation-coupled dendritic spiking integrates inputs on a long time scale.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.20112
    Journal: Hippocampus
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2005
    Authors: Z Huhn, G Orbán, P Erdi, M Lengyel

    Dendritic spiking accounts for rate and phase coding in a biophysicalmodel of a hippocampal place cell

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neucom.2004.10.026
    Journal: Neurocomputing
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2005
    Authors: Z Huhn, M Lengyel, G Orban, P Erdi

    Computational theories on the function of theta oscillations.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-005-0567-x
    Journal: Biol Cybern
    E-pub date: 1 Jun 2005
    Authors: M Lengyel, Z Huhn, P Erdi

    Dendritic spiking accounts for rate and phase coding in a biophysical model of a hippocampal place cell

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1109/IJCNN.2004.1381173
    Journal: IEEE International Conference on Neural Networks - Conference Proceedings
    E-pub date: 1 Dec 2004
    Authors: Z Huhn, M Lengyel, G Orbán, P Érdi

    Properties of a random attachment growing network.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.68.066104
    Journal: Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys
    E-pub date: 1 Dec 2003
    Authors: L Zalányi, G Csárdi, T Kiss, M Lengyel, R Warner, J Tobochnik, P Erdi

    Hippocampal rhythm generation: gamma-related theta-frequency resonance in CA3 interneurons.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/s004220000199
    Journal: Biol Cybern
    E-pub date: 1 Feb 2001
    Authors: G Orbán, T Kiss, M Lengyel, P Erdi

    Single cell and population activities in cortical-like systems.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1515/revneuro.1999.10.3-4.201
    Journal: Rev Neurosci
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 1999
    Authors: F Bazsó, A Kepecs, M Lengyel, S Payrits, K Szalisznyó, L Zalányi, P Erdi