arXiv:2607.25529cs.AI2026-07

高权重神经元不一定是关键,重要性呈非线性分布。

Are the High-weight Neurons the Important Ones in Image Classification Neural Networks?

论文配图:Are the High-weight Neurons the Important Ones in Image Classification Neural Networks?
图 1 · 摘自论文原文
  • 通过重训练与扰动实验评估神经元重要性
  • 顶级10%高权值神经元仅25%与关键神经元重合
  • 低权值神经元也可能显著影响模型性能

随着图像分类神经网络的发展,神经元在剪枝、后门防御和可解释性中扮演关键角色,但权重与重要性的关系尚不明确。本文通过三项实验进行评估:高权值神经元与影响准确率的神经元重叠度量化、高权值神经元扰动影响分析,以及高权值神经元删减后的重训练表现。在CIFAR-10和Mini-ImageNet上的实验显示,顶层10%高权值神经元与关键神经元重合度最高仅约25%,后续区间进一步下降;扰动测试表明,顶部10%高权值神经元在特定操作下导致45-80%准确率下降,远高于随机扰动的3-7%,但其中三分之一几乎无影响;删减-重训练结果显示,移除顶部10%高权值神经元后准确率比基线低10-20%且无法恢复,而移除顶部0.1%则接近完全恢复。值得注意的是,部分低权值区间扰动也造成10-17%准确率下降,与中等高权值神经元相当。结果表明,高权值不等于重要性,其重要性为非线性,低权值神经元同样贡献显著。该发现挑战了权重-重要性等价假设,为加密、剪枝等应用提供更精细的神经元角色理解。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

As neural network models for image classification advance, neurons play critical roles in pruning, backdoor defense, and interpretability. Yet existing work lacks clarity on the weight-importance relationship. We address this with a neuron importance assessment method using three experiments: quantifying overlap between high-weight and accuracy-impacting neurons, analyzing high-weight neuron perturbation effects, and testing post-retraining accuracy after high-weight neuron ablation. Experiments on CIFAR-10 and Mini-ImageNet reveal key patterns. Overlap analysis shows top 10\% high-weight neurons overlap with important ones by only about 25\% at maximum, dropping further in subsequent intervals. Perturbation tests find top 10\% high-weight neurons cause 45-80\% accuracy degradation under certain operations compared to 3-7\% for random perturbations, but a third of them show minimal impact. Ablation-retraining results show removing top 10\% high-weight neurons leaves accuracy 10-20\% below baseline with no recovery, while ablating top 0.1\% allows near-full recovery. Notably, some low-weight intervals show 10-17\% degradation when perturbed, comparable to mid-range high-weight neurons. These results confirm not all high-weight neurons are important: their importance is nonlinear. Low-weight neurons also contribute significantly. This challenges weight-importance equivalence, offering refined neuron role insights. It supports applications like encryption prioritizing critical high-weight neurons and pruning removing non-critical ones, advancing neural network analysis.

神经元重要性模型可解释性剪枝权重分析

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