The Analog Mind: Connectionism, Consciousness and Mental Representation. The aim of our project is to explore novel conjectures about the way information is coded and processed in the brain, and the manner in which the brain manufactures consciousness. This work may eventually pay rich dividends by reducing the incidence of mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, that disturb conscious experience. It may also lead to the development of more powerful forms of computation in artificial neural ne ....The Analog Mind: Connectionism, Consciousness and Mental Representation. The aim of our project is to explore novel conjectures about the way information is coded and processed in the brain, and the manner in which the brain manufactures consciousness. This work may eventually pay rich dividends by reducing the incidence of mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, that disturb conscious experience. It may also lead to the development of more powerful forms of computation in artificial neural networks. This will have a significant impact on the artificial intelligence industry, with obvious economic benefits for Australia.
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A unified theory of performance in absolute identification tasks. The ability to identify stimuli is fundamentally important in human cognition and is studied in absolute identification tasks, where people must identify one out of a number of stimuli, varying on a single dimension, with an appropriate label. A remarkable finding is that people cannot reliably identify more than about seven different stimuli. This limit imposes severe practical restrictions on our ability to categorise stimuli an ....A unified theory of performance in absolute identification tasks. The ability to identify stimuli is fundamentally important in human cognition and is studied in absolute identification tasks, where people must identify one out of a number of stimuli, varying on a single dimension, with an appropriate label. A remarkable finding is that people cannot reliably identify more than about seven different stimuli. This limit imposes severe practical restrictions on our ability to categorise stimuli and constitutes a perplexing problem for cognitive theory. This project involves an international collaborative effort by five leading researchers in mathematical psychology to develop a comprehensive, integrative model of human performance in absolute identification tasks.
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Heterodensity neuroimaging techniques for spatiotemporal identification and localization. Australia is at the forefront of research that is taking brain imaging and interfacing out of the lab and into the field. The technology being developed is spawning applications in areas as diverse as health, education, defense and national security, and will lead to resolution of longstanding theoretical debates as well as enabling new breakthroughs in understanding the biological concomitants of psycholo ....Heterodensity neuroimaging techniques for spatiotemporal identification and localization. Australia is at the forefront of research that is taking brain imaging and interfacing out of the lab and into the field. The technology being developed is spawning applications in areas as diverse as health, education, defense and national security, and will lead to resolution of longstanding theoretical debates as well as enabling new breakthroughs in understanding the biological concomitants of psychological function. This is significant given the push to develop biometrics of psychological function with enhanced sensitivity and specificity in clinical diagnosis, along with defense applications in evaluation of critical personnel and training. It also opens up a range of applications for mental control of remote or prosthetic devices.Read moreRead less
Investigating differences in decision-making ability in older adults. This project aims to investigate how healthy ageing impacts decision making and its associated neural circuits using computation modelling and neurogenetic methods. Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive ability, allowing us to choose the best course of action. This project will investigate the relationship between genes and decision-making performance across the adult lifespan. Expected outcomes include a deeper understan ....Investigating differences in decision-making ability in older adults. This project aims to investigate how healthy ageing impacts decision making and its associated neural circuits using computation modelling and neurogenetic methods. Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive ability, allowing us to choose the best course of action. This project will investigate the relationship between genes and decision-making performance across the adult lifespan. Expected outcomes include a deeper understanding of how decision-making evolves in healthy ageing, and a tool based on genetic scores and computational modelling to predict an individual's trajectory of cognitive function. This could help identify individuals who are at risk for cognitive decline, which could then inform better interventions.Read moreRead less
A more sound approach to the neurobiology of language. How does the brain attain spoken language? Current neurobiological models assume either implicitly or explicitly that there is no relationship between a word's sound and its meaning. Yet considerable evidence shows this strong assumption about the arbitrariness of language is invalid. This project will use a combination of behavioural, neuroimaging and computational studies to characterise how the brain processes statistical regularities in ....A more sound approach to the neurobiology of language. How does the brain attain spoken language? Current neurobiological models assume either implicitly or explicitly that there is no relationship between a word's sound and its meaning. Yet considerable evidence shows this strong assumption about the arbitrariness of language is invalid. This project will use a combination of behavioural, neuroimaging and computational studies to characterise how the brain processes statistical regularities in sound-to-meaning correspondences as probabilistic cues to attain spoken language. The outcome will be a better neural account of language comprehension and production. The benefit of this new account will be a stronger basis for assessment and treatment of developmental and acquired language impairments.Read moreRead less
Intelligent Resource Allocation Techniques for Next Generation Wireless Mobile Communication Networks. The project will develop radio and network resource allocation techniques to maximise network utilisation and to offer guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS) for multimedia traffic in 3G/4G wireless mobile communication networks. In particular, this work will study the problem of radio channel allocation in wireless IP (Internet protocol) multimedia networks. The project will develop resource allo ....Intelligent Resource Allocation Techniques for Next Generation Wireless Mobile Communication Networks. The project will develop radio and network resource allocation techniques to maximise network utilisation and to offer guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS) for multimedia traffic in 3G/4G wireless mobile communication networks. In particular, this work will study the problem of radio channel allocation in wireless IP (Internet protocol) multimedia networks. The project will develop resource allocation algorithms based on traffic conditions, link qualities and service requirements using statistical traffic models, mobile software agents and neural network techniques.
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Computational Intelligence Methods for Financial Applications. Complex financial problems can be better addressed with software that can learn from available data and adapt to environmental changes. It is therefore essential to develop technologies that enable prediction and optimisation in constrained and dynamic environments. There are currently some limitations in existing business decision support systems despite their ubiquity providing an opportunity for Australia to be at the forefront as ....Computational Intelligence Methods for Financial Applications. Complex financial problems can be better addressed with software that can learn from available data and adapt to environmental changes. It is therefore essential to develop technologies that enable prediction and optimisation in constrained and dynamic environments. There are currently some limitations in existing business decision support systems despite their ubiquity providing an opportunity for Australia to be at the forefront as new standards in the field are developed. Furthermore, the fund management industry (particularly superannuation) is significant to the Australian economy and development of this technology has the potential to enhance its performance and reputation.Read moreRead less
Improving flow management for the control of blue-green algal blooms. Cyanobacterial (blue-green algal) blooms are a major water quality problem worldwide. They are toxic, produce odours and are estimated to cost around $200 million/year in Australia alone. Flow management is one of the most promising approaches for combating the cyanobacterial bloom problem in rivers. In this research, a new risk-based approach for quantifying the impact of flow management on cyanobacterial blooms is developed, ....Improving flow management for the control of blue-green algal blooms. Cyanobacterial (blue-green algal) blooms are a major water quality problem worldwide. They are toxic, produce odours and are estimated to cost around $200 million/year in Australia alone. Flow management is one of the most promising approaches for combating the cyanobacterial bloom problem in rivers. In this research, a new risk-based approach for quantifying the impact of flow management on cyanobacterial blooms is developed, which can be applied to rivers world wide. The utility of the approach is demonstrated for key sites in the Murray-Darling basin, providing a valuable decision support tool for river managers.Read moreRead less
The Next Step in Intelligent Decision-Support Systems (IDSS): Systems that Learn and Adapt. This project will benefit Australia's scientific knowledge and technology base in the areas of evolutionary computation, business intelligence, and decision management. The outcomes will advance Australian companies and organisations, as many common yet complex business problems can be better addressed with systems that automatically learn and adapt to environmental changes. Such complex business problems ....The Next Step in Intelligent Decision-Support Systems (IDSS): Systems that Learn and Adapt. This project will benefit Australia's scientific knowledge and technology base in the areas of evolutionary computation, business intelligence, and decision management. The outcomes will advance Australian companies and organisations, as many common yet complex business problems can be better addressed with systems that automatically learn and adapt to environmental changes. Such complex business problems include dynamic scheduling (in the manufacturing sector), resource allocation optimisation (in the defence, mining, and agriculture sectors), and network design optimisation (in the telecommunications and energy sectors).Read moreRead less
Adaptive Agents Simulation of Freshwater Ecosystems: Artificial Intelligence Framework to Discover and Forecast Emergent Ecosystem Structures and Behaviours in Response to Environmental Changes. The project aims at intelligent adaptive agent models for lakes and rivers in order to improve understanding and proactive management of these highly complex ecosystems. Little is known about species succession in freshwater ecosystems in response to local and global environmental changes. Evolutionary a ....Adaptive Agents Simulation of Freshwater Ecosystems: Artificial Intelligence Framework to Discover and Forecast Emergent Ecosystem Structures and Behaviours in Response to Environmental Changes. The project aims at intelligent adaptive agent models for lakes and rivers in order to improve understanding and proactive management of these highly complex ecosystems. Little is known about species succession in freshwater ecosystems in response to local and global environmental changes. Evolutionary algorithms embodied in differential equations, neural networks and rules allow adaptive agents to simulate emergent structures and behaviours of algae and zooplankton communities interacting by competition and predation. The agents are trained and tested by ecological time-series of twelve lakes and rivers, and validated for the Mediterranean Myponga Reservoir, South Australia, and the temperate Burrinjuck Reservoir, NSW.Read moreRead less