训练时加的噪声反而让RNN在测试时表现更好,因为噪声改变了网络的计算机制。
Paradoxical noise preference in RNNs
- 噪声注入位置决定性能:只有内部激活函数加噪声的RNN才偏好保留噪声。
- 大噪声下性能最佳:当训练噪声足够大时,测试时保持相同噪声水平表现最好。
- 揭示过拟合新机制:网络可能过拟合噪声本身,而非仅数据输入输出关系。
在用于模拟生物神经网络的连续时间循环神经网络(CTRNN)中,通常在训练时引入噪声以模拟生物变异性并正则化学习。直觉上,测试时移除噪声应能保持或提升性能。然而,我们发现大多数CTRNN在训练噪声水平附近或恰好在该水平时表现最佳。这种噪声偏好现象通常出现在噪声注入激活函数内部时;若噪声注入在激活函数外部,则零噪声时表现最优。该现象在多种任务中稳健出现,且不仅限于RNN,也存在于前馈神经网络。分析表明,该现象源于噪声引起系统随机动力学中固定点(稳态分布)的偏移,且这种偏移依赖于噪声水平,导致去噪后输出产生偏差,从而降低性能。理论与数值结果表明,偏差产生于神经状态接近激活函数非线性区域时,此时噪声不对称衰减;而性能优化促使网络在此类区域运行——这仅在噪声注入激活函数内部时存在,解释了为何仅此类网络表现出噪声偏好。因此,网络可能过拟合训练噪声本身,而非仅数据。该现象不同于随机共振,后者是噪声增强信号处理。研究揭示训练噪声可能成为神经网络计算的一部分,对理解神经种群动态及设计鲁棒人工RNN具有重要意义。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
In recurrent neural networks (RNNs) used to model biological neural networks, noise is typically introduced during training to emulate biological variability and regularize learning. The expectation is that removing the noise at test time should preserve or improve performance. Contrary to this intuition, we find that continuous-time RNNs (CTRNNs) often perform best at or near the training noise level. This noise preference typically arises when noise is injected inside the neural activation function; networks trained with noise injected outside the activation function perform best with zero noise. The phenomenon arises robustly in diverse tasks for large enough training noise; we also show the phenomenon arising in feedforward neural networks, not just in RNNs. Our analyses show that the phenomenon stems from noise-induced shifts of fixed points (stationary distributions) in the underlying stochastic dynamics of the RNNs. These fixed point shifts are noise-level dependent and bias the network outputs when the noise is removed, degrading performance. Analytical and numerical results show that the bias arises when neural states operate near activation-function nonlinearities, where noise is asymmetrically attenuated, and that performance optimization incentivizes operation near these nonlinearities; such performance incentives exist for networks with noise inside, but not outside, the activation function, explaining why only noise-in networks show the preference. Thus, networks can overfit to the training noise itself rather than just to the input-output data. The phenomenon is distinct from stochastic resonance, wherein nonzero noise enhances signal processing. Our findings reveal that training noise can become an integral part of the computation learned by neural networks, with implications for understanding neural population dynamics and for the design of robust artificial RNNs.
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