Krautz, Christoph

"Verum et factum convertuntur." Giambattista Vico (1668-1744)

Research Interests

• Abstract models of the early visual system.
• Bioinspired simulations of neurophysiological processes.
• Bioinspired learning schemes.
• Message Passing Algorithms for Factor-Graphs.

Projects

• BioNICs - Bioinspired Neuroinformatic Circuits
• Factor Maps: Interacting Maps for Fast Visual Interpretation
• Factor Fields: Synthesis of Cortical Fields and Factor Graphs

Student Projects

Open Projects:

• Pathologic Plasticity in Motor Cortex (Bachelor/Master Thesis)
  Goal of this thesis is to develop, implement, and describe a model for cortical plasticity. This will include a comprehensive review of existing work on this topic.
  The model to be built will explain how cortical plasticity in motor cortex plays a crucial role in a known but rare disease - the trained inability to move fingers separately.
  more (pdf)

Completed Projects:

• A CUDA Implementation of LISSOM
  (Part of the BioNICs project.)
  The LISSOM (laterally interconnected synergetically self-organizing map) model is an approach to construct an abstract model of the brain's early visual system. The aim of the thesis is to develop efficient parallel algorithms that implement the LISSOM model on the GPU. (more...)
  Student: Adrian Friedli
• Understanding Belief Propagation dialects and their application to optimization problems
  Student: Ivo Vigan
• Techniques and Methods for Distributed Neuronal Computing
  (Part of the BioNICs project.)
  Student: Michael Schär
• Message Passing Algorithms for Random k-SAT (more...)
  (Part of the CoreTechs project.)
  Student: Priyanka Vijayakumar

Teaching Assistance

Publications

2011

M. Cook, L. Gugelmann, F. Jug, C. Krautz, A. Steger
Factor Maps for Visual Interpretation [preprint]
To appear in International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN 2011).

M. Cook, F. Jug, C. Krautz
Neuronal Projections Can Be Sharpened by a Biologically Plausible Learning Mechanism [preprint]
In: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (ICANN 2011), 6791, 2011, 101–108.

2010

M. Cook, F. Jug, C. Krautz, A. Steger
Unsupervised Learning of Relations [preprint]
In: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (ICANN 2010), 6352, 2010, 164-173.

F. Jug, C. Krautz, A.Steger
A model of functional recovery after significant loss of neural tissue: biofeedback based healing of vestibular dysfunction [preprint]
BMC Neuroscience 11(Suppl 1), 2010, P111.

M. Cook, L. Gugelmann, F. Jug, C. Krautz
Holistically convergent modular networks: a biological principle for recurrent network architecture [preprint]
BMC Neuroscience 11(Suppl 1), 2010, P38.

2009

M. Cook, F. Jug, C. Krautz
Sharpening Projections
BMC Neuroscience, 10(Suppl 1), 2009, P214.