Mike Hasselmo and colleagues examined how the brain generalizes and infers new behaviors from previous experience.  They trained different styles of neural network models to learn context-dependent behaviors (i.e., the response to four stimuli, A B C D, mapped onto two different responses X Y differently in different contexts).  There were previously unseen stimuli whose response could be inferred from the other stimuli. They analyzed a Deep Belief Network, a Multi-Layer Perceptron, and the combination of a Deep Belief Network with a Linear Perceptron.  The combination of the Deep Belief Network with Linear Perceptron worked best.

A Deep Belief Network has multiple layers of hidden units with connections between, but not within, the layers.

About the Author


The Miller Lab uses experimental and theoretical approaches to study the neural basis of the high-level cognitive functions that underlie complex goal-directed behavior. ekmillerlab.mit.edu