基于大脑原理设计的神经网络,能高效进行图像推理并保持生物合理性。
Brain-like Variational Inference
- 从自由能最小化出发,推导出在线迭代的神经动态机制
- 在CelebA数据集上实现更优稀疏性与重建效果,且支持整数脉冲计数
- 适合研究类脑计算或追求生物合理性的模型设计者
大脑与机器中的推理可统一为优化同一目标:机器学习中的证据下界(ELBO)最大化,或神经科学中的变分自由能(F)最小化(ELBO = -F)。本文提出FOND框架,基于三个原则推导神经推理动态:(1)自由能上的自然梯度,(2)在线信念更新,(3)迭代精炼。将其应用于构建iP-VAE(迭代泊松变分自编码器),一种通过膜电位动态实现变分推理的递归脉冲神经网络,以迭代更新替代固定的编码器。理论上,iP-VAE具备由侧向竞争产生的自发归一化及硬件高效的整数脉冲计数表示。实验上,其在稀疏性、重建精度和生物合理性方面优于标准VAE与高斯预测编码模型,并可处理复杂彩色图像数据集CelebA。此外,iP-VAE对分布外输入具有强泛化能力,超过混合迭代-摊销VAE。结果表明,从第一性原理推导推理算法可获得兼具生物合理性与实证有效性的具体架构。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Inference in both brains and machines can be formalized by optimizing a shared objective: maximizing the evidence lower bound (ELBO) in machine learning, or minimizing variational free energy (F) in neuroscience (ELBO = -F). While this equivalence suggests a unifying framework, it leaves open how inference is implemented in neural systems. Here, we introduce FOND (Free energy Online Natural-gradient Dynamics), a framework that derives neural inference dynamics from three principles: (1) natural gradients on F, (2) online belief updating, and (3) iterative refinement. We apply FOND to derive iP-VAE (iterative Poisson variational autoencoder), a recurrent spiking neural network that performs variational inference through membrane potential dynamics, replacing amortized encoders with iterative inference updates. Theoretically, iP-VAE yields several desirable features such as emergent normalization via lateral competition, and hardware-efficient integer spike count representations. Empirically, iP-VAE outperforms both standard VAEs and Gaussian-based predictive coding models in sparsity, reconstruction, and biological plausibility, and scales to complex color image datasets such as CelebA. iP-VAE also exhibits strong generalization to out-of-distribution inputs, exceeding hybrid iterative-amortized VAEs. These results demonstrate how deriving inference algorithms from first principles can yield concrete architectures that are simultaneously biologically plausible and empirically effective.
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