On the 18th of November Maxime Carriere (University of London) will give a visitors talk. 

Title: Spontaneous Emergence of Syntactic Categories (MSc Research)

Abstract:  Syntax is a major component of language, however its neuronal mechanisms such as serial order remain unclear. An ensemble of neurons called sequence detectors could explain how the cell assembly of one syntactic category could prime the cell assembly of another category. This theory based on Hebbian learning would therefore explain serial order. An unsupervised neuro-computational model of language implemented with Hebbian learning is used to find and understand sequence detectors. The model is trained with sequential and random patterns to observe the formation of these sequences. This study found that the model failed to learn the sequences, but the cell assemblies were organised differently under the two conditions. The discussion is focused on the possible implication of inhibitory neurons in the sequence detectors theory and their implementation on the model.