View source for Fritz Sommer

[[Image:Fritz.jpg|150px|left]] 
Friedrich T. Sommer, Ph.D. <br />
University of California, Berkeley <br /> 
Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience - HWNI <br />
575A Evans Hall MC# 3198 <br />
Berkeley, CA 94720-3198 <br />
phone (510) 642-7251 <br />
fax (510) 642-7206 <br />
email F $ 0 M M E R (a) B E R K E L E Y * E D U (please retype)<br />
<br style="clear:both;" />

Adjunct Professor, Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience & [http://neuroscience.berkeley.edu/ Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute], University of California, Berkeley <br />
Faculty member (Hochschuldozent), Department of Computer Science, [http://www.uni-ulm.de/ University of Ulm]<br />
<br />
2005-2011 Associate Adjunct Professor, University of California, Berkeley<br />
2009 Acting director of the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience at UC Berkeley<br />

----

== Research Interests ==

Many impressive capabilities of the brain are not yet understood, for example, abilities in perception to rapidly analyze cluttered visual scenes, spoken language, morse code or the virtually unlimited capacity of our long-term memory. My lab investigates the theoretical principles how neurons and networks in the brain collaborate and organize to produce perception, memory and ultimately cognition. To study these issues we develop computational models of the brain, as well as advanced techniques of data analysis. For a full list of the research publications, see the CV [[File:Ftsommer-cv10.pdf]]. 

Current research foci in the lab:
* Compressed sampling and learning in the brain
* How do biological mechanisms in the early visual system process the image? 
* What are functional roles of brain rhythms and ongoing neural activity?
* Are there universal communication schemes that brain areas use to interact?
* Active unsupervised learning (in biological and artificial sensor-motor loops)
* Multimodal sensory integration (early fusion)
* Theory of memory formation and retrieval in hippocampus and other brain structures

I am also interested in how public data sharing can grow in the community of neuroscience, making the best use of the precious resource of experimental data and to allow their analysis from many diverse angles. In other fields, such as genomics and linguistics, data sharing has became ubiquitous and highly successful, in neuroscience we are still quite at the beginning. My lab is building the core facilities for a new data sharing initiative in Neuroscience [http://www.crcns.org CRCNS.org]. Further I am a member of the task force for electrophysiology data sharing administered by the [http://www.incf.org/programs/datasharing International Neuroinformatics Coordination Facility] in Stockholm, Sweden.


==Journal articles and book chapters==

==== Recent Publications ====
G. Agarwal, I. H. Stevenson, A. Berényi, K. Mizuseki, G. Buzsáki, F. T. Sommer: Spatially distributed local fields in the hippocampus encode rat position. Science (2014) in the press

A. Knoblauch, E. Koerner, U. Koerner, F. T. Sommer: Structural synaptic plasticity has high memory capacity and can explain graded amnesia, catastrophic forgetting, and the spacing effect. PLOS ONE (2014) in the press

L. M. Martinez, M. Molano-Mazon, X. Wang, F. T. Sommer, J. A. Hirsch: Statistical wiring of thalamic receptive fields optimizes spatial sampling of the retinal image. Neuron 81 (2014) 943-956

F. T. Sommer: Neural oscillatons and synchrony as mechanisms for coding, communication and computation in the visual system. Chapter in: The New Visual Neurosciences, Eds.: Leo M. Chalupa and John S. Werner, MIT Press (2014)

J. A. Hirsch, X. Wang, V. Vaingankar, F. T. Sommer: Inhibitory circuits in the visual thalamus. Chapter in: The New Visual Neurosciences, Eds.: Leo M. Chalupa and John S. Werner, MIT Press (2014)

C. Hillar, F. T. Sommer: When can dictionary learning uniquely recover sparse data from subsamples? (2013) under submission and in [http://arxiv.org/abs/1106.3616 arXiv] 

D. Y. Little, F. T. Sommer: Learning and exploration in action-perception loops. Frontiers in Neural Circuits, 22 March 2013 doi: 10.3389/fncir.2013.00037 [http://www.frontiersin.org/neural_circuits/10.3389/fncir.2013.00037/abstract online]

D. Y. Little, F. T. Sommer: Maximal mutual information, not minimal entropy, for escaping the "Dark Room". Comment on "Whatever next? Predictive brains, situated agents, and the future of cognitive science." in Behavioral Brain Sciences 2013 Jun;36(3):220-221. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X12002415 [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23663756]

G. Agarval, F. T. Sommer: Measuring information in spike trains about intrinsic brain signals. Chapter in: Spike timing: Mechanisms and functions, Eds.: P. M. DiLorenzo, J. D. Victor, CRC Press - Taylor & Francis Group (2013) 137-152 [http://books.google.com/books?id=KTHUIMUpQCUC&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=agarwal+sommer+information+theory&source=bl&ots=78JmjIQQPb&sig=Rt9ATxPLJDx-2kdf-g5LKbxlwYI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=QKiCUevFOsm2igLKiIGICw&ved=0CGcQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=agarwal%20sommer%20information%20theory&f=false Google Books]

X. Wang, F. T. Sommer, J. A. Hirsch: Inhibitory circuits for visual processing in thalamus. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 21 (2011) 726-733

X. Wang, V. Vaingankar, C. Soto Sanchez, F. T. Sommer, J. A. Hirsch: Thalamic interneurons and relay cells use complementary synaptic mechanisms for visual processing. Nature Neuroscience 14 (2011) 224-231 

F. T. Sommer: Associative memory and learning. Chapter in Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, Ed.: N. Seel, Springer (2011) [http://www.springerreference.com/docs/html/chapterdbid/319772.html online]

G. Isely, C. Hillar, F. T. Sommer: Decyphering subsampled data: Adaptive compressive sampling as a principle of brain communication. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 23. Eds: J. Lafferty and C. K. I. Williams and J. Shawe-Taylor and R.S. Zemel and A. Culotta (2011) 910-918 [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbooks.nips.cc%2Fpapers%2Ffiles%2Fnips23%2FNIPS2010_1099.pdf&ei=aPFvTdLvLZHGsAPZ-5i_Cw&usg=AFQjCNGKtk3i_t5iSyxpdMcqMoLFhKf8OA&sig2=dnZxP1kl2pav20u7wloNSw pdf]

C. Hillar, F. T. Sommer: Ramsey theory reveals the conditions when sparse coding on subsampled data is unique. arXiv.org (2010) > q-bio > arXiv:1106.3616 [http://arxiv.org/abs/1106.3616 pdf]

X. Wang, J. A. Hirsch, F. T. Sommer: Recoding of sensory information across the retinothalamic synapse. Journal of Neuroscience 30 (2010) 13567-13577 

K. Koepsell, X. Wang, J. A. Hirsch, F. T. Sommer: Exploring the function of neural oscillations in early sensory systems. Focused review in Frontiers in Neuroscience 4 (2010) 53-61 [http://frontiersin.org/neuroscience/neuroscience/paper/10.3389/neuro.01/010.2010/ Frontiers in Neuroscience]

A. Knoblauch, G. Palm, F. T. Sommer: Memory capacities for synaptic and structural plasticity. Neural Computation 22 (2010) 289-341 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/knoblauchpalmsommer10.pdf pdf]

==== Publications 2009 - 2003 ====
G. Monaci, P. Vandergheynst, F. T. Sommer: Learning bimodal structure in audio-visual data. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks 20 (2009) 1898-1910 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/Monaci_etal_IEEE_NN09.pdf pdf]

K. Koepsell, X. Wang, V. Vaingankar, Y. Wei, Q. Wang, D. L. Rathbun, W. M. Usrey, J. A. Hirsch, F. T. Sommer: Retinal oscillations carry visual information to cortex. [http://www.frontiersin.org/systemsneuroscience/paper/10.3389/neuro.06/004.2009/ Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience] (2009)

K. Koepsell, F. T. Sommer: Information transmission in oscillatory neural activity. Biological Cybernetics 99 (2008) 403-416 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/koepsellsommer08bicy.pdf pdf]

J. L. Teeters, K. D. Harris, K. J.  Millman, B. A. Olshausen, F. T. Sommer: Data sharing for computational neuroscience. Neuroinformatics 6 (2008) 47-55 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/teetersetal08.pdf   pdf]

X. Wang, Y. Wei, V. Vaingankar, Q. Wang, K. Koepsell, F. T. Sommer, J. A. Hirsch: Feedforward excitation and inhibition evoke dual modes of firing in the cat’s visual thalamus during naturalistic viewing. Neuron 55 (2007)  465-478. [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/wangetal07neuron.pdf   pdf] See also the preview about this paper: P. Reinagel: The inner life of bursts. Neuron 55 (2007) 339-341

F. T. Sommer: Bunte Theorien für graue Zellen. [http://www.gehirn-und-geist.de/artikel/872207 Gehirn und Geist], Juni (2007) 70-76

M. Rehn, F. T. Sommer: A network that uses few active neurones to code visual input predicts the diverse shapes of cortical receptive fields. J. Comp. Neurosci. 22 (2) 135-146 (2007). [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/rehnsommer07jcns.pdf pdf]

M. Rehn, F. T. Sommer: Storing and restoring visual input with collaborative rank coding and associative memory. 
Neurocomputing 69 (10-12) (2006) 1219-1223 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/rehnsommer06neurocomp.pdf   pdf]

F. T. Sommer, P. Kanerva: Can neural models of cognition benefit from the advantages of connectionism?
Behavoral and Brain Sciences 29 (1) 86-87 (2006) [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/sommerkanerva05.pdf   pdf]
 
F. T. Sommer, T. Wennekers: Synfire chains with conductance-based neurons: internal timing and coordination with timed input.
Neurocomputing 65-66 (2005)  449 - 454  [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/sommerwennekers05.pdf   pdf]

D. George, F. T. Sommer: Computing with inter-spike  inverval codes in networks of integrate and fire neurons.
Neurocomputing  65-66 (2005) 414 - 420 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/georgesommer05.pdf   pdf]

L. M. Martinez, Q. Wang,  R. C. Reid, C. Pillai, J.-M. Alonso, F. T. Sommer, J. A. Hirsch: Receptive field structure varies with layer in the primary visual cortex.
Nature Neuroscience 8 (12) (2005) 372 - 379 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/martinezetal05.pdf   pdf]

A. Knoblauch, F. T. Sommer: Spike-timing dependent plasticity can form "zero-lag" links for cortical oscillations.
Neurocomputing 52-54 (2004) 301 - 306  [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/KnoblauchSommer04.pdf   pdf]

G. Glatting, F. M. Mottaghy, J. Karitzky, A. Baune, F. T. Sommer, G. B. Landwehrmeyer, S. N. Reske: Improving binding potential analysis in [11C]raclopide PET studies using cluster analysis.
Medical Physics 31 (4) (2004) 902-906 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/glattingetal04.pdf   pdf]

J. A. Hirsch, L. M. Martinez, C. Pillai, J.-M. Alonso, Q. Wang, F. T. Sommer: Functionally distinct inhibitory neurons at the first stage of visual cortical processing.
Nature Neuroscience 6 (12) (2003) 1300 - 1308 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/hirschetal03.pdf   pdf]

F. T. Sommer, T. Wennekers: Models of distributed associative memory networks in the brain.
Theory in Biosciences (122) (2003) 70 - 86  [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/sommerwennekers03.pdf   pdf]
 
A. Knoblauch, F. T. Sommer: Synaptic plasticity, conduction delays, and inter-areal phase relations of spike activity in a model of reciprocally connected areas.
Neurocomputing (52-54) (2003) 301-306 [http://redwood.berkeley.edu/fsommer/papers/knoblauchsommer03.pdf   pdf]

==Recent talks==
(currently not up to date)

Talk at the CRCNS-PI meeting, Princeton, NJ 10/2011

Talk at the Neuroinformatics 2011 Conference, Boston, MA 9/2011

Talk at the Osnabrück Computational Cognition Alliance Meeting (OCCAM) on "Natural computation in hierarchies". 6/2011

Talk at the Janelia Conference: Computations in Neocortical Circuits: What Does the Cortex Do? DC 5/2001

Talk at the CoSyNe workshop "Compressed sensing and the brain: Sparsity and dimensionality in neuronal processing" Snowbird, UT 3/2011

Talk at the Synposium "Grand Challenges in Neural Computation II" Santa Fe, NM 2/2011

Talk at the Symposium "Beyond Neural Cartography" USC Los Angeles, 3/26/2010 

Talk at the workshop "Determinants of functional biases in sensory tuning across cortical laminae and regions", CoSyNe, Snowbird, UT 2/2010

Talk at the the workshop "Synchronization and Multiscale Complex Dynamics in the Brain", Dresden 11/2009

Talk at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore 9/2009

Talk at CNS conference, Berlin 7/2009

Talk at workshop "Structure and Dynamics of Networks", Blaubeuren 7/2009

Talk at CRCNS-PI meeting, CMU/U. Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh 6/2009

Talk at Joint Symposium on Neural Computation, Los Angeles 5/2009

Talk at Computational Neuroscience Group at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona 3/2009

Talk at Bernstein Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München 2/2009

Talk at Graduiertenkolleg, University of Ulm, Ulm 2/2009

Talk at Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University, New York 1/2009

Talk at the 1st INCF Workshop on Time Series Data: Analysis and Management, Stockholm 12/2008

How the network dynamics in early visual stages can form sensory representations. Invited talk at University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands 7/2008

Roles of dynamical processes in early visual stages for forming sensory representations. Invited talk at the Ladislav Tauc conference “Complexity in Neural Network Dynamics”, Gif sur Yvette, France 12/2007

Spike Timings Relative to Retinal Oscillations Carry Visual Information to Cortex.
Talk given at the Brain Network Dynamics Conference 2007 [http://www.archive.org/details/Brain_Network_Dynamics_2007-19-Friedrich-Sommer video and slides]

Can high level perception use dynamical processes in early visual stages?
Talk given at the Workshop "High-Level Perception and Low-Level Vision: Bridging the Semantic Gap", 
at the Santa Fe Institute, October 8-10, 2007.


==Edited book==
Eds: F. T. Sommer, A. Wichert: Exploratory analysis and data modeling in functional neuroimaging.
MIT Press, Boston, MA (2003) [http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=9191 link to publisher]

== Software ==

Tool for analysis of functional neuroimaging: The [http://www.smd.uni-ulm.de/home/bps/ brain positioning software] (BPS) gives access to the Brodmann atlas and can be called directly from the SPM data analysis software. For description, see: 

Schmitt V., Wichert A., Grothe J., Sommer  F. T.: The brain positioning software. A Practical guide of neuroscience databases. Ed.: R. Kötter, Kluwer, NY, 2002


== Workshops, Conferences and Teaching Courses ==

'''Workshops and conferences:'''
* NIPS workshop 2013 coorganizer
* NIPS 2013-2010: Reviewer
* Santa Fe Institute Workshop 2010: Co-organizer [http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/2010-August/002253.html Workshop on Perception and Action, SFI 2010]
* COSYNE 2010: Reviewer
* NIPS 2009: Reviewer
* COSYNE 2009: Member of program committee
* COSYNE 2008: Workshop chair 
* COSYNE 2007: Workshop chair -> [http://www.cosyne.org/c/index.php?title=Cosyne_07_Workshops/submissions COSYNE 2007 workshop program] 
* NIPS 2005: Program chair for Neuroscience -> [http://nips.cc/Conferences/2005/ NIPS 2005 program]
* CNS 2002 workshop organizer: Neural assemblies -> [http://www.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk/~maneesh/cns2002workshops/neural_assemblies.html Neural assemblies workshop]
* NIPS 2000 workshop organizer: Explorative analysis and data modeling in functional neuroimaging

'''Teaching at UC Berkeley:'''

* International summer courses 2013-2010: Modeling and Mining of Neuroscience Data, Organizer 
* Theoretical and computational neuroscience (2003, 2005; 2007; 2009; 2010; teaching participation at course MCB262/PSYCH290P/[http://redwood.berkeley.edu/wiki/VS265:_Neural_Computation VS265])   
* Neural Computation (2006; teaching participation at course [[VS298]])

'''Teaching at University of Ulm:'''

Summer courses:
* Statistics of natural signals (2005)

Semester courses (1997-2002):
* Information retrieval and associative memory
* Computational Neuroscience
* Theoretical methods for the interpretation of medical functional imaging data
* Information Retrieval
* Associative memories: conventional and neuronal
* Neural Cell Assemblies


== Neuroscience Publications by Theme ==

For a brief description of some of the research projects, see [[Synopsis of Research|synopsis of research]].

=== Computational models and analysis of cell physiology in the early visual system===
X. Wang, V. Vaingankar, C. Soto Sanchez, F. T. Sommer, J. A. Hirsch: Thalamic interneurons and relay cells use complementary synaptic mechanisms for visual processing. Nature Neuroscience 14 (2011) 224-231 

X. Wang, J. A. Hirsch, F. T. Sommer: Recoding of sensory information across the retinothalamic synapse. Journal of Neuroscience 30 (2010) 13567-13577 

X. Wang, Y. Wei, V. Vaingankar, Q. Wang, K. Koepsell, F. T. Sommer, J. A. Hirsch: Feedforward excitation and inhibition evoke dual modes of firing in the cat’s visual thalamus during naturalistic viewing. Neuron 55 (2007)  465-478. See also the preview about this paper: P. Reinagel: The inner life of bursts. Neuron 55 (2007) 339-341

M. Rehn, F. T. Sommer: A network that uses few active neurones to code visual input predicts the diverse shapes of cortical receptive fields. J. Comp. Neurosci. 22 (2) 135-146 (2007). [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/rehnsommer07jcns.pdf pdf]
Earlier online prepublication [http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10827-006-0003-9 SpringerLink DOI 10.1007/s10827-006-003-9] (2006) 

M. Rehn, F. T. Sommer: Storing and restoring visual input with collaborative rank coding and associative memory. 
Neurocomputing 69 (10-12) (2006) 1219-1223 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/rehnsommer06neurocomp.pdf   pdf]

L. M. Martinez, Q. Wang,  R. C. Reid, C. Pillai, J.-M. Alonso, F. T. Sommer, J. A. Hirsch: Receptive field structure varies with layer in the primary visual cortex.
Nature Neuroscience 8 (12) (2005) 372 - 379 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/martinezetal05.pdf   pdf]

J. A. Hirsch, L. M. Martinez, C. Pillai, J.-M. Alonso, Q. Wang, F. T. Sommer: Functionally distinct inhibitory neurons at the first stage of visual cortical processing.
Nature Neuroscience 6 (12) (2003) 1300 - 1308 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/hirschetal03.pdf   pdf]

=== Mechanisms of memory in realistic neural networks ===
'''Structural plasticity'''

A. Knoblauch, E. Koerner, U. Koerner, F. T. Sommer: Structural synaptic plasticity has high memory capacity and can explain graded amnesia, catastrophic forgetting, and the spacing effect. to appear in PLOS ONE (2014) 

A. Knoblauch, G. Palm, F. T. Sommer: Memory capacities for synaptic and structural plasticity. Neural Computation 22 (2010) 289-341 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/knoblauchpalmsommer10.pdf pdf]

'''Long-term memory'''

F. T. Sommer, T. Wennekers: Associative memory in networks of spiking neurons
Neural Networks 14 (6-7) Special Issue: Spiking Neurons in Neuroscience and Technology (2001) 825 - 834 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/sommerwennekers01.pdf   pdf]  
 
F. T. Sommer, T. Wennekers: Modeling studies on the computational function of fast temporal structure in cortical circuit activity
Journal of Physiology - Paris 94 (5/6) (2000) 473-488 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/sommerwennekers00.pdf   pdf]  
    
F. T. Sommer: On cell assemblies in a cortical column
Neurocomputing (32-33) (2000) 517 - 522 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/sommer00.pdf   pdf]  

T. Wennekers, F. T. Sommer: Gamma-oscillations support optimal retrieval in associative memories of two-compartment neurons
Neurocomputing 26-27 (1999) 573 - 578 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/ws99.pdf   pdf]  

T. Wennekers, F. T. Sommer, G. Palm: Iterative Retrieval in Associative Memories by Threshold Control of Different Neural Models
In: Supercomputers in Brain Research: From Tomography to Neural Networks World Scientific Publishing Comp (1995) 301-319

'''Short-term memory'''

A. Knoblauch, T. Wennekers, F. T. Sommer: Is voltage dependent synaptic transmission in NMDA receptors a robust mechanism for working memory?
Neurocomputing (44-46) (2002) 19-24 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/kws02.pdf   pdf]  

U. Vollmer, F. T. Sommer: Coexistence of short and long term memory in a model network of realistic neurons
Neurocomputing (38-40) (2001) 1031 - 1036 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/vs01.pdf   pdf]  
 
'''Large-scale integration of cortical representations'''

F. T. Sommer, T. Wennekers: Models of distributed associative memory networks in the brain
Theory in Biosciences (122) (2003) 70 - 86 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/sommerwennekers03.pdf   pdf]  

Associative memory in reciprocal cortico-cortical projections

F. T. Sommer, T. Wennekers: Associative memory in a pair of cortical cell groups with reciprocal projections
Neurocomputing (38-40) (2001) 1575 - 1580 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/sw01.pdf   pdf]  

F. T. Sommer, T. Wennekers, G. Palm: Bidirectional completion of cell assemblies in the cortex
Computational Neuroscience: Trends in Research 1998, Plenum Press, New York, (1998) [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/cns97swp.ps   ps]  

'''Large-scale integration relying on neural oscillations'''

A. Knoblauch, F. T. Sommer: Spike-timing dependent plasticity can form "zero-lag" links for cortical oscillations Neurocomputing (58-60) 185 - 190 (2004) [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/KnoblauchSommer04.pdf   pdf]  

A. Knoblauch, F. T. Sommer: Synaptic plasticity, conduction delays, and inter-areal phase relations of spike activity in a model of reciprocally connected areas
Neurocomputing (52-54) (2003) 301-306 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/knoblauchsommer03.pdf   pdf]

=== Models of macroscopic activity spread in cortex ===

V. Schmitt, R. Koetter, F. T. Sommer: The impact of thalamo-cortical projections on activity spread in cortex
Neurocomputing  (2003) (52-54) (2003) 919-924 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/schmittetal03.pdf   pdf]
 
R. Kötter  and F. T. Sommer: Global relationship between anatomical connectivity and activity propagation in the cerebral cortex
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B (355) (2000) 127 - 134 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/KoetterSommer2000.pdf   pdf]

F. T. Sommer, R. Kötter: Simulating a Network of Cortical Areas Using Anatomical Connection Data in the Cat
Computational Neuroscience: Trends in Research 1997, Plenum Press, New York (1997) 511-517 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/cns96lv.ps   ps]

R. Koetter, P. Nielsen, J. Dyhrfjeld, F. T. Sommer, G. Northoff: Multi-level integration of quantitative neuroanatimical data
Chapter in Computational Neuroanatomy: Principles and Methods.
Ed.: G. A. Ascoli, Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ (2002)

=== Theory of associative memory ===

'''Review on capacity analysis of memory networks'''

A. Knoblauch, G. Palm, F. T. Sommer: Memory capacities for synaptic and structural plasticity. Neural Computation, Volume 22, Issue 2, pp. 289-341 (2010) [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/knoblauchpalmsommer10.pdf pdf]

'''Bayesian theory of autoassociative memory'''

F. T. Sommer, P. Dayan: Bayesian Retrieval in Associative Memories with Storage Errors.
IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks 9 (4) (1998) 705-713 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/sommerdayan98.pdf   pdf]

'''Bidirectional sparse associative memory'''

F. T. Sommer, G. Palm: Improved Bidirectional Retrieval of Sparse Patterns Stored by Hebbian Learning.
Neural Networks 12 (2) (1999) 281 - 297 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/sommerpalm99.pdf   pdf]

F. T. Sommer, G. Palm: Bidirectional Retrieval from Associative Memory.
Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 10, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (1998) 675 - 681 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/sommerpalm98nips.PDF   pdf]
    
'''Capacity analysis of recurrent sparse autoassociative memories'''

F. Schwenker, F. T. Sommer, G. Palm: Iterative Retrieval of sparsely coded associative memory patterns.
Neural Networks 9 (1996) 445-455 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/schwenkeretal95.pdf   pdf]

'''Capacity analysis of sparse pattern recognition'''

G. Palm, F. T. Sommer: Information capacity in recurrent Mc.Culloch-Pitts networks with sparsely coded memory states.
Network 3 (1992) 177-186 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/palmsommer92.pdf   pdf]  
 
G. Palm, F. T. Sommer: Information and pattern capacities in neural associative memories with feedback for sparse memory patterns.
In: Neural Network Dynamics, Springer New York (1992). Eds.: J.G.Taylor, E.R.Caianello, R.M.J.Cotterill, J.W.Clark, 3-18 
    
'''Analysis of local learning  rules'''

G. Palm, F. T. Sommer: Associative data Storage and Retrieval in Neural Nets.
In: Models of Neural Networks III, Springer New York (1996) Eds: E.Domany, J.L.van Hemmen, K.Schulten, 79-118      
[http://rctn.org/wiki/Image:Palmssommer95.pdf pdf]

Book, PhD-Thesis (in german)

F. T. Sommer: Theorie neuronaler Assoziativspeicher - Lokales Lernen und iteratives Retrieval von Information.
Verlag Hänsel-Hohenhausen (1993) ISBN 3-89349-901-6    [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/dis.ps   ps]

=== Neuroimaging ===

''' Edited book '''

Eds: F. T. Sommer, A. Wichert: Exploratory analysis and data modeling in functional neuroimaging.
MIT Press, Boston, MA (2003) [http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=9191 link to publisher (table of contents, etc.)]

'''General issues of Neuroimaging'''

F. T. Sommer, J. A. Hirsch, A. Wichert: Theories, data analysis and simulation models in neuroimaging - an overview
In  Exploratory analysis and data modeling in functional neuroimaging.
Eds.: F.T. Sommer and A. Wichert,  MIT Press, Boston, MA (2003)  [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/sommeretal03.pdf   pdf]  

V. Schmitt, A. Wichert, J. Grothe, F. T. Sommer: The brain positioning software.
In: A practical guide of neuroscience databases and associated tools, Ed. R. Koetter, Kluwer, NY (2002)
 
'''Unsupervised method of detecting functional activity in Neuroimaging'''

A. Wichert, B. Abler, J. Grothe, H. Walter, F. T. Sommer: Exploratory analysis of event-related fMRI demonstrated in a working memory study. 
In  Exploratory analysis and data modeling in functional neuroimaging.
Eds.: F.T. Sommer and A. Wichert,  MIT Press, Boston, MA (2003) [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/wichertetal03.pdf   pdf]  

A. Wichert, H. Walter, G. Groen, A. Baune, J. Grothe, A. Wunderlich, F. T. Sommer: Detection of delay selective activity during a working memory task by explorative data analysis.
Neuroimage (13) (2001)  282

A. Baune, F. T. Sommer, M. Erb, D. Wildgruber, B. Kardatzki, G. Palm, W. Grodd:  Dynamical Cluster Analysis of Cortical fMRI Activation.
NeuroImage 6 (5) (1999) 477 - 489 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/bauneetal99.pdf   pdf]  

'''Analysis techniques in Positron Emission Tomography'''

G. Glatting, F. M. Mottaghy, J. Karitzky, A. Baune, F. T. Sommer, G. B. Landwehrmeyer, S. N. Reske: Improving binding potential analysis in [11C]raclopide PET studies using cluster analysis.
Medical Physics 31 (4) (2004) 902-906 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/glattingetal04.pdf   pdf]  

A. Baune, A. Wichert, G. Glatting, F. T. Sommer: Dynamical cluster analysis for the detection of microglia activation
in Artificial Neural Nets and Genetic Algorithms. Eds. V. Kurkova, N. C. Stelle, R. Neruda, M. Karny. Springer, Wien (2001) 442 - 445
 
J. Ruckgaber, G. Glatting, J. Karitzky, A. Baune, F. T. Sommer, B. Neumaier, S. N. Reske: Clusteranalyse in der Positronen-Emissions-Tomographie des Hirns mit C-11-PK11195.
Nuklearmedizin (40) (2001) A95

=== Neural associative memories in information technology ===
M. Rehn, F. T. Sommer: Storing and restoring visual input with collaborative rank coding and associative memory. 
Neurocomputing 69 (10-12) (2006) 1219-1223 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/rehnsommer06neurocomp.pdf   pdf]

G. Palm, F. Schwenker, F. T. Sommer, A. Strey: Neural associative memory.
In Associative Processing and Processors, Eds. A. Krikelis and C. C. Weems, IEEE CS Press, Los Alamitos, CA, USA (1997) 307-326 [http://rctn.org/fsommer/papers/psss95.ps   ps]  
   
F. T. Sommer, F. Schwenker, G. Palm: Assoziative Speicher als Module in informationsverarbeitenden Systemen.
In: Contributions to the Workshop Aspekte Neuronalen Lernens, Eds. L.Cromme, J. Wille, T. Kolb Tech Report, TU Cottbus M-01/1995 (1995)

G. Palm, F. Schwenker, F. T. Sommer: Associative memory and sparse similarity preserving codes.
In: From Statistics to Neural Networks: Theory and Pattern Recognition Applications, Ed. V.Cherkassky, Springer NATO ASI Series F, New York (1994) 282-302


== Earlier Publications in Physics ==

P. Frodl, F. T. Sommer, K. Hau, F. Wahl: On the effective interaction of two hydrogen centres in Niobium.
Z. f. Naturforsch. 43a (1990) 857-866

K. Hau, P. Frodl, M. Gnirß, F. T. Sommer, F. Wahl: A Microscopic Theory of a alpha-Phase Hydrogen in Niobium.
Z. f. physikalische Chemie 163 (1989) 549-554
 
F. T. Sommer, K. Hau, P. Frodl, F. Wahl: Calculation of the excitation energies of a hydrogen impurity in Niobium.
Z. f. Naturforsch. 43a (1988) 923-929

K. Hau, P. Frodl, F. T. Sommer, F. Wahl: A microscopic theory of a single hydrogen centre in Niobium.
Z. f. Naturforsch. 43a (1988) 914-922


== Classical Music ==
I studied music phenomenology and music practice by attending courses and rehearsals of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergiu_Celibidache Sergiu Celibidache] in Stuttgart, Mainz and Munich. As an amateur violinist I was member of the university orchestras in Tübingen and Düsseldorf and in a few chamber ensembles. Occasional freelance writing about music (Music manual, Klassik heute, CD booklet texts). 

'''Music texts'''
Hard to talk about it but here someone who had something to say: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Slonimsky Nicolas Slonimski]]

'''Strongest listening recommendations'''
*Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonaten und Partiten for solo violin, Ida Haendel, 1996, Testament SBT 2090 (These pieces can unfold a universe worth a lifetime to explore. For players it is difficult not to get caught up in internal and external obstacles when navigating it. From all the performances/recordings I have heard, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Haendel Ida Haendel]], who studied with Carl Flesch and George Enescu, gives the most direct and natural access to this universe. But note also the recording by Hilary Hahn.)

*Anton Bruckner: 4th Symphony, Sergiu Celibidache, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, 1996, EMI (Celibidache's choice of tempi makes the last movement with its characteristic coda a revelation.)

*[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Pettersson Allan Petterssen]]: 7th Symphony, Sergiu Commissiona, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, 1990, Caprice CAP21411 (One symphonic movement of forty odd minutes, written to capture the experience of modern mankind.)

*Franz Schubert: Eine Winterreise, [[http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marko_Rothm%C3%BCller Marko Rothmüller]] (baritone), Suzanne Gyr (piano), 1945 (Schubert's Winterreise is a microcosm of human experience and Rothmueller's voice gives it the most natural expression. Probably one of the most touching recordings ever that in my opinion surmounts in strength and directness the justifiably praised recordings by Diedrich Fischer-Dieskau.)

*Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartets No 10, 13, 14, Borodin String Quartet, EMI 7 49269 2 (originally Melodiya 1982)


==Roots== 

[http://neurotree.org/neurotree/tree.php?pid=12684 NeuroTree entry]

==Funding==
Currently, my research is funded by the National Science Foundation, Google, the Helen-Wills Neuroscience Institute and the Hawkins-Strauss trust. 

In the past, I have received support from the German Science Foundation, the Ministry of Education and Research of Baden-Wuerttemberg and by the Wilhelm-Schweizer-Zinnfiguren GmbH. For the opportunity of a broad academic training I am indebted to the public university system of the Federal Republic of Germany.