3 ms·

Seems that dreams are needed, but the article doesn't really give a good explanation why

082349872349872 3y ago
Since the late 80s (when neural nets were a thing) I've figured that dreams are a way to "reweight" brain encodings: throw noise in, and the pathways to whatever strong signals come out probably ought to be reduced.
- phkahler 3y ago
  From some strange experience I believe REM sleep does "reprocess" things and change weights. Deeper more ingrained stuff requires this more disruptive process to change.
  - galaxyLogic 2y ago
    I wonder do Androids dream of electric sheep? I mean seriously if dreams do a necessary function for the human brain, doesn't it mean that AI and LLMs should benefit from dreaming as well?
- withinboredom 3y ago
  That’s not how the brain works. Neurons will generate and connect dendrites while awake or asleep, creating new pathways that simply didn’t exist moments before. Further, the longer a dendrite stays connected, the more optimized it becomes (myelin sheathing aka “white matter”) and then it doesn’t go away even if it becomes unused. It probably (helps) explains why we fall back on old habits so easily, even if we’ve avoided them for years.
  - 082349872349872 2y ago
    Like double entry bookkeeping, wouldn't it be possible to just add an inhibitory pathway to get the same effect as dialing down the excitatory one?
    - withinboredom 2y ago
      There isn't such a thing as inhibiting a pathway in the brain. Not directly, anyway. There are inhibitory neurons that attach to other neurons and prevent them from firing. These neurons literally hug other neurons to prevent them from firing, which has the effect you're wanting but may not have the desired macro effect as there may be ways to still fire the neuron (not enough inhibition, or other brain chemicals like cortisol -- stress -- might prevent it from being fully inhibited). Further, the brain mostly works on creating more efficient pathways vs. inhibiting. If a behavior previously existed, life tends to suggest that it was important at some point and may be important at another point. For example, my muscle memory for some activities still exists from being in the military. I will still annihilate entire teams in a game of paintball (which is pretty much the only place these skills are still useful, short of returning to a warzone). Another example is that parts of your brain are dedicated to recognizing everyone you ever knew. Short of them dying or moving away, eventually, you may run into them again.

Since the late 80s (when neural nets were a thing) I've figured that dreams are a way to "reweight" brain encodings: throw noise in, and the pathways to whatever strong signals come out probably ought to be reduced.

phkahler 3y ago
From some strange experience I believe REM sleep does "reprocess" things and change weights. Deeper more ingrained stuff requires this more disruptive process to change.
- galaxyLogic 2y ago
  I wonder do Androids dream of electric sheep? I mean seriously if dreams do a necessary function for the human brain, doesn't it mean that AI and LLMs should benefit from dreaming as well?
withinboredom 3y ago
That’s not how the brain works. Neurons will generate and connect dendrites while awake or asleep, creating new pathways that simply didn’t exist moments before. Further, the longer a dendrite stays connected, the more optimized it becomes (myelin sheathing aka “white matter”) and then it doesn’t go away even if it becomes unused. It probably (helps) explains why we fall back on old habits so easily, even if we’ve avoided them for years.
- 082349872349872 2y ago
  Like double entry bookkeeping, wouldn't it be possible to just add an inhibitory pathway to get the same effect as dialing down the excitatory one?
  - withinboredom 2y ago
    There isn't such a thing as inhibiting a pathway in the brain. Not directly, anyway. There are inhibitory neurons that attach to other neurons and prevent them from firing. These neurons literally hug other neurons to prevent them from firing, which has the effect you're wanting but may not have the desired macro effect as there may be ways to still fire the neuron (not enough inhibition, or other brain chemicals like cortisol -- stress -- might prevent it from being fully inhibited). Further, the brain mostly works on creating more efficient pathways vs. inhibiting. If a behavior previously existed, life tends to suggest that it was important at some point and may be important at another point. For example, my muscle memory for some activities still exists from being in the military. I will still annihilate entire teams in a game of paintball (which is pretty much the only place these skills are still useful, short of returning to a warzone). Another example is that parts of your brain are dedicated to recognizing everyone you ever knew. Short of them dying or moving away, eventually, you may run into them again.