arXiv:2411.03541cs.LGq-bio.NC2024-11

即使行为不再进步,小鼠大脑仍能持续学习新表征。

Do Mice Grok? Glimpses of Hidden Progress During Overtraining in Sensory Cortex

  • 在行为饱和后继续训练,嗅皮层神经活动仍可提升解码精度。
  • 神经表征在过训期持续分离,错误分类样本突然被正确识别。
  • 适合关注神经学习机制与隐性知识的脑科学、机器学习研究者。

任务表现达到接近极限后,学习是否停止?受机器学习理论和人类专家持续精进现象启发,我们假设任务表征学习可能在行为停滞后仍持续。通过对近期发表的小鼠神经数据的重新分析,发现其后嗅皮层在任务过训期(行为已趋近天花板)仍存在学习迹象:神经群体解码准确率上升,且在保留测试中表现更优。关键发现是,皮层中的类别表征在过训期间持续分离,导致原本误判的样本在后期被正确分类,而行为无变化。我们提出该过程可能体现近似最大间隔优化,并通过真实神经数据验证相关预测,同时构建一个简化合成模型复现这些现象。最后,该模型解释了动物学习中过训逆转的实证谜题——因学习特征可复用,对特定任务变化更具鲁棒性。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Does learning of task-relevant representations stop when behavior stops changing? Motivated by recent theoretical advances in machine learning and the intuitive observation that human experts continue to learn from practice even after mastery, we hypothesize that task-specific representation learning can continue, even when behavior plateaus. In a novel reanalysis of recently published neural data, we find evidence for such learning in posterior piriform cortex of mice following continued training on a task, long after behavior saturates at near-ceiling performance ("overtraining"). This learning is marked by an increase in decoding accuracy from piriform neural populations and improved performance on held-out generalization tests. We demonstrate that class representations in cortex continue to separate during overtraining, so that examples that were incorrectly classified at the beginning of overtraining can abruptly be correctly classified later on, despite no changes in behavior during that time. We hypothesize this hidden yet rich learning takes the form of approximate margin maximization; we validate this and other predictions in the neural data, as well as build and interpret a simple synthetic model that recapitulates these phenomena. We conclude by showing how this model of late-time feature learning implies an explanation for the empirical puzzle of overtraining reversal in animal learning, where task-specific representations are more robust to particular task changes because the learned features can be reused.

神经编码过训学习表征分离动物学习

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