Using artificial neural networks to ask 'why' questions of minds and brains.

Journal: Trends in neurosciences
Published Date: Jan 17, 2023

Abstract

Neuroscientists have long characterized the properties and functions of the nervous system, and are increasingly succeeding in answering how brains perform the tasks they do. But the question 'why' brains work the way they do is asked less often. The new ability to optimize artificial neural networks (ANNs) for performance on human-like tasks now enables us to approach these 'why' questions by asking when the properties of networks optimized for a given task mirror the behavioral and neural characteristics of humans performing the same task. Here we highlight the recent success of this strategy in explaining why the visual and auditory systems work the way they do, at both behavioral and neural levels.

Authors

  • Nancy Kanwisher
    Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States; McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States; Department of Brain & Cognitive Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States.
  • Meenakshi Khosla
    School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, USA.
  • Katharina Dobs
    Department of Psychology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany; Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany. Electronic address: katharina.dobs@psychol.uni-giessen.de.

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