Modeling hidden neurons in SNNs using mesoscopic approximations.
problem Underconstrained problem of modeling unobserved neurons in SNNs.
method Coarse-graining and mean-field approximations to derive neuLVM.
result neuLVM can efficiently model large SNNs and recover connectivity parameters.
Neuron Shapley identifies key neurons in deep networks, improving model accuracy and fairness.
problem Identifying responsible neurons in deep networks for better model performance and fairness.
method Neuron Shapley framework quantifies neuron contributions, accounting for interactions.
result Removing just 30 critical filters can destroy model accuracy, revealing network function.
This research investigates selectively pruning hyper and hypo neurons to improve neural network generalization.
problem Improving neural network generalization to unseen data.
method Investigates pruning hyper and hypo neurons selectively in fully connected layers of CNNs.
result Selective pruning of hyper and hypo neurons improves model performance on out-of-domain data.
Describes explaining neurons in deep representations using compositional logical concepts.
problem Interpreting neuron behavior in deep neural networks.
method Identifying compositional logical concepts that closely approximate neuron behavior.
result Compositional explanations provide insights into model performance and allow for adversarial example creation.
BEAN models neuronal correlations to create interpretable representations.
problem Hard interpretation of dense-layer representations in DNNs.
method Inspired by neuroscience, BEAN models neuronal correlations and dependencies.
result BEAN enables formation of interpretable neuronal clusters without sacrificing model performance.
Deep CNN model predicts neuronal cell health from images.
problem Predicting the biological activity of chemical compounds on neuronal cells.
method Deep convolutional neural network (CNN) with residual connections.
result Achieved 99.6% accuracy in distinguishing treated from untreated cells.
Mesoscopic model infers neural population dynamics from spike trains.
problem Challenges in fitting mechanistic spiking networks to empirical population data.
method Fit mesoscopic model to aggregate population activity, using likelihood of single-neuron and connectivity parameters.
result Extracts posterior correlations between model parameters and defines subsets of parameters able to reproduce data.
Inspired by complexity and diversity of biological neurons, our group proposed quadratic neurons by replacing the inner product in current artificial neurons with a quadratic operation on input data, thereby enhancing the capability of an individual neuron. Along this direction, we are motivated to evaluate the power o…
This paper improves model fusion by training-time neuron alignment, reducing barriers in multi-model fusion.
problem Diverse neuron permutations across different settings hinder model fusion performances.
method Training-time neuron alignment using fixed neuron anchors to reduce training-time permutations.
result Training-time neuron alignment improves fusion of pretrained models and federated learning performances.
Single neuron sensitivity reveals model weaknesses.
problem Understanding model susceptibility to adversarial attacks.
method Analyzing sensitivity of individual neurons to perturbations.
result Single neuron attacks are as effective as full model attacks.
Novel 'strong neuron' improves deep learning efficiency and robustness.
problem Improving deep learning efficiency and robustness against adversarial attacks.
method Introducing a novel 'strong neuron' model and a constructive training algorithm.
result Achieved 10x-100x reduction in operations count and hardware requirements.
This paper presents a new artificial neuron model capable of learning its receptive field in the topological domain of inputs. The model provides adaptive and differentiable local connectivity (plasticity) applicable to any domain. It requires no other tool than the backpropagation algorithm to learn its parameters whi…
Single neuron with ADA learns XOR and outperforms other functions.
problem Classifying linearly non-separable data.
method Proposed a new artificial neuron with apical dendrite activation.
result ADA function achieves 100% accuracy on XOR and superior performance on benchmark datasets.
Single-spike neurons can approximate as well as multi-spike neurons.
problem Limitation of single-spike neurons in spiking neural networks.
method Comparison of single-spike and multi-spike neural networks.
result Single-spike and multi-spike neural networks are equivalent in approximation capabilities.
The predictive power of neural networks often costs model interpretability. Several techniques have been developed for explaining model outputs in terms of input features; however, it is difficult to translate such interpretations into actionable insight. Here, we propose a framework to analyze predictions in terms of …
Improved Bayesian inference for neuronal ensemble inference reduces computational cost.
problem Efficient inference of neuronal ensembles from activity data.
method Modified MCMC algorithm with simulated annealing for hyperparameter control.
result Our method reduces computational cost while maintaining or improving inference accuracy.
Neurons in cortical circuits exhibit coordinated spiking activity, and can produce correlated synchronous spikes during behavior and cognition. We recently developed a method for estimating the dynamics of correlated ensemble activity by combining a model of simultaneous neuronal interactions (e.g., a spin-glass model)…
Neural networks learn to mimic brain neurons with two-input activation functions, improving performance and robustness.
problem Training neural networks to mimic the complex interactions of brain neurons.
method Developed a network-in-network architecture with two-input activation functions, optimized hyperparameters, and compared to conventional ReLU networks.
result Two-input activation functions can learn soft XOR functions, improving network performance and robustness.
Novel method decorrelates neurons for better deep learning model generalization.
problem High correlations between neurons limit deep learning model generalization.
method Regularization terms from minimum spanning tree of neuron cliques, using correlation dissimilarities.
result Our regularizers outperform existing methods and minimize neuron redundancies.
The artificial neural network is a popular framework in machine learning. To empower individual neurons, we recently suggested that the current type of neurons could be upgraded to 2nd order counterparts, in which the linear operation between inputs to a neuron and the associated weights is replaced with a nonlinear qu…
CHANI learns classification tasks with local transformations inspired by biology.
problem Proving neural networks can learn classification tasks with local transformations.
method CHANI uses spiking neurons modeled by Hawkes processes with expert aggregation for local learning.
result CHANI can learn and encode multiple classes, forming assemblies of neurons.
Persistent neurons improve neural network optimization by leveraging previous solutions.
problem Improving neural network optimization under different initialization and data distributions.
method Persistent neurons use information from previous converged solutions to explore new landscapes and avoid local minima.
result Persistent neurons converge to more optimal solutions and improve model performance under various initializations.
We propose the BinaryGAN, a novel generative adversarial network (GAN) that uses binary neurons at the output layer of the generator. We employ the sigmoid-adjusted straight-through estimators to estimate the gradients for the binary neurons and train the whole network by end-to-end backpropogation. The proposed model …
Neural circuits contain heterogeneous groups of neurons that differ in type, location, connectivity, and basic response properties. However, traditional methods for dimensionality reduction and clustering are ill-suited to recovering the structure underlying the organization of neural circuits. In particular, they do n…
The challenge of assigning importance to individual neurons in a network is of interest when interpreting deep learning models. In recent work, Dhamdhere et al. proposed Total Conductance, a "natural refinement of Integrated Gradients" for attributing importance to internal neurons. Unfortunately, the authors found tha…
Researchers develop methods to learn neuron dynamics from colored noise.
problem Learning nonlocal stochastic neuron dynamics from colored noise.
method Proposed two methods for closing Fokker-Planck equations: nonlocal large-eddy-diffusivity closure and data-driven sparse regression.
result Mutual information and total correlation between stimulus and neuron states calculated for FHN neuron.
PINNs solve neuronal parameter and state estimation problems with limited data.
problem Estimating parameters and hidden state variables from noisy partial data in multiscale neuronal models.
method Physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) for joint state and parameter estimation.
result PINNs deliver robust and accurate parameter inference and state reconstruction, even with limited data.
Deep learning is a subset of a broader family of machine learning methods based on learning data representations. These models are inspired by human biological nervous systems, even if there are various differences pertaining to the structural and functional properties of biological brains. The elementary constituents …
SeReNe prunes neurons with low sensitivity to reduce network size.
problem Large neural networks consume too many resources on resource-constrained devices.
method Exploits neural sensitivity as a regularizer to prune neurons with low sensitivity.
result Pruning neurons with low sensitivity achieves competitive compression ratios.
Method selects task-specific neurons for unsupervised transfer learning.
problem Challenges in fine-tuning large language models for specific tasks.
method Selects important neurons for a specific classification task and extends to multi-source transfer learning.
result Higher similarity between task-specific fingerprints leads to better transferability.
Under-parameterized networks can either copy or average teacher weights, leading to universal optimal solutions.
problem Approximating a teacher network with an under-parameterized student network.
method Analyzing shallow neural networks with erf activation function and unitary teacher weights, proving copy-average configurations are critical points and finding the optimal solution.
result The optimal solution for under-parameterized networks has a universal structure, whether copying or averaging teacher neurons.
TENP prunes experts and neurons in Mixture-of-Experts models for efficient deployment.
problem Efficient deployment of large language models constrained by static parameter footprint.
method Structured Trapezoidal ExpertNeuron Pruning (TENP) identifies and retains important experts and neurons.
result DeepSeek model achieves 10% better performance on code generation tasks with 40% expert sparsity.
Capsules learn from expert neurons using dynamic routing.
problem Training complex multidimensional neural networks.
method Formulated capsule networks as a product of expert neurons with dynamic routing.
result Capsule networks can generate realistic images.
Single ReLU neuron's gradient dynamics reveal support vectors as key to generalization.
problem Understanding the generalization capability of ReLU networks.
method Examined gradient flow dynamics and support vectors in single ReLU neuron training.
result Support vectors play a crucial role in the generalization of ReLU networks.
Sometimes it is not enough for a DNN to produce an outcome. For example, in applications such as healthcare, users need to understand the rationale of the decisions. Therefore, it is imperative to develop algorithms to learn models with good interpretability (Doshi-Velez 2017). An important factor that leads to the lac…
A neuron is a basic physiological and computational unit of the brain. While much is known about the physiological properties of a neuron, its computational role is poorly understood. Here we propose to view a neuron as a signal processing device that represents the incoming streaming data matrix as a sparse vector of …
This work makes vision networks more interpretable by identifying key neurons.
problem Complex deep networks are hard to interpret, hindering safety-critical applications.
method Uses stochastic local competition and multimodal models to dissect and interpret neurons.
result The method generates understandable descriptions for a few active neurons, revealing network decision-making.
Topological methods improve neuron analysis and tracer injection summary.
problem Traditional methods fail to capture the tree-like structure of neurons.
method Discrete Morse (DM) Theory for neuron skeletonization and consensus tree summarization.
result Significant performance improvements over non-topological methods.
Neural networks are based on a simplified model of the brain. In this project, we wanted to relax the simplifying assumptions of a traditional neural network by making a model that more closely emulates the low level interactions of neurons. Like in an RNN, our model has a state that persists between time steps, so tha…
Over-parametrization speeds up learning a single neuron model.
problem Understanding why over-parametrization accelerates learning in neural networks.
method Studied a simple model of a single teacher neuron with quadratic activation, showing how over-parametrization can lead to faster convergence.
result Over-parametrization helps gradient descent enter the neighborhood of a global optimal solution faster.
We describe a mechanism by which artificial neural networks can learn rapid adaptation - the ability to adapt on the fly, with little data, to new tasks - that we call conditionally shifted neurons. We apply this mechanism in the framework of metalearning, where the aim is to replicate some of the flexibility of human …
Neuron-specific dropout reduces overfitting and data needs for neural networks.
problem Overfitting and insufficient training data for deep neural networks.
method Compares training and validation passes of a layer, drops targeted neurons based on feature analysis.
result Achieves similar or better testing accuracy with less data, reducing overfitting.
We propose a new generic type of stochastic neurons, called q-neurons, that considers activation functions based on Jackson's q-derivatives with stochastic parameters q. Our generalization of neural network architectures with q-neurons is shown to be both scalable and very easy to implement. We demonstrate expe…
Introspects convolutional speech recognition models using Gradient-adjusted Neuron Activation Profiles.
problem Lack of interpretability in deep learning ASR models.
method Gradient-adjusted Neuron Activation Profiles (GradNAPs) for feature and representation visualization.
result Gains insight into how data is processed in convolutional ASR models.
The seemingly stochastic transient dynamics of neocortical circuits observed in vivo have been hypothesized to represent a signature of ongoing stochastic inference. In vitro neurons, on the other hand, exhibit a highly deterministic response to various types of stimulation. We show that an ensemble of deterministic le…
RNNs trained on head direction task mimic brain's compass and shifter neurons.
problem Modeling brain's head direction system using neural networks.
method Optimized recurrent neural networks trained on angular velocity integration.
result RNNs naturally emerge with compass and shifter neuron-like properties.
A new SNN model explains decision-making with learning and spiking neurons.
problem Lack of learning mechanism in existing models for decision-making.
method Proposes a Spiking Neural Network (SNN) model that incorporates a learning mechanism and uses multivariate Hawkes processes.
result Shows a coupling between DDM and Poisson counter models and derives a DDM from a Hawkes network of spiking neurons.
SpaRCe optimizes reservoir computing by learning neuron thresholds to improve performance and prevent forgetting.
problem Improving performance and preventing forgetting in reservoir computing networks.
method Integrates neuron-specific learnable thresholds to optimize sparsity without altering dynamics, learning read-out weights and thresholds via gradient rule.
result Threshold learning improves performance and alleviates catastrophic forgetting.