学习时变连接组以实现发育过程中的稳定行为
Learning Time-Varying Connectomes for Stable Behavior Across Development
Christof Fehrman, Jacob J. Morra, Eva A. Naumann
AI 速读 基于摘要
作者报告,用单一紧凑生成编码(以发育时间为输入的CPPN)生成随年龄变化的循环控制器,可在显著发育变化下保持视运动行为稳定。
q-bio.NC · cs.NE
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Neural circuits must maintain functionality to drive effective behavior while their size, topology, geometry, and intrinsic dynamics change across development. To model developing visuomotor circuits and behavior, we investigated whether a single compact generative encoding could produce functional recurrent controllers across such changes. Building on the HyperNEAT algorithm, we represented this program as a compositional pattern-producing network that received developmental time as an input to generate age-specific connectivity. The developmental substrate prescribed neuronal birth, position, sensory organization, and intrinsic time constants. We tested this approach using two geometrically distinct developmental substrates and two visuomotor tasks: optomotor responses and phototaxis. Controllers optimized at only the initial or mature substrate generally failed when evaluated at other ages. In contrast, controllers optimized across multiple developmental snapshots maintained substantially higher and more consistent performance across trained and unseen ages. Optimization at only three developmental snapshots was often sufficient to produce effective behavior across the tested developmental interval. The resulting connectomes changed substantially with age and did not converge on a single trajectory of sparsity or connection-weight statistics. Controllers also differed in whether they relied on neurons born later in development. These results demonstrate that a shared spatiotemporal time-varying connectivity program can produce recurrent neural networks that preserve behavior across substantial developmental changes. Together, these results provide a framework for studying how functional stability can emerge without requiring structural or dynamical stability.