2015/05/04 by Ralf Der, Georg Martius
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Computer Science · Engineering · Neuroscience · Physics and Astronomy · Psychology · #Adaptive behavior #Advanced Memory and Neural Computing #Artificial intelligence #Artificial neural network #Biology #Cognitive psychology #Cognitive science #Computer science #Developmental psychology #Learning rule #Mechanism (biology) #Metaplasticity #Neural dynamics and brain function #Neuroscience #Physics #Psychology #Synaptic plasticity #acm:37N35 #acm:68T05 #acm:68T40 #acm:91E40 #acm:92B20 #cs.LG #cs.RO #msc:37N35 #msc:68T05 #msc:68T40 #msc:91E40 #msc:92B20 #q-bio.NC #stochastic dynamics and bifurcation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1073/pnas.1508400112
published as PNAS November 10, 2015 vol. 112 no. 45 E6224-E6232 · 18 pages, 5 figures, 7 videos
arxiv created 2015/05/04 · openalex publication_date 2015/10/26 · arxiv updated 2016/06/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Grounding autonomous behavior in the nervous system is a fundamental challenge for neuroscience. In particular, self-organized behavioral development provides more questions than answers. Are there special functional units for curiosity, motivation, and creativity? This paper argues that these features can be grounded in synaptic plasticity itself, without requiring any higher-level constructs. We propose differential extrinsic plasticity (DEP) as a new synaptic rule for self-learning systems and apply it to a number of complex robotic systems as a test case. Without specifying any purpose or goal, seemingly purposeful and adaptive rhythmic behavior is developed, displaying a certain level of sensorimotor intelligence. These surprising results require no system-specific modifications of the DEP rule. They rather arise from the underlying mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking, which is due to the tight brain body environment coupling. The new synaptic rule is biologically plausible and would be an interesting target for neurobiological investigation. We also argue that this neuronal mechanism may have been a catalyst in natural evolution.