Robust and efficient representations of dynamic stimuli in hierarchical neural networks via temporal smoothing

Efficient coding that minimizes informational redundancy of neural representations is a widely accepted neural coding principle. Despite the benefit, maximizing efficiency in neural coding can make neural representation vulnerable to random noise. One way to achieve robustness against random noise is smoothening neural responses. However, it is not clear whether the smoothness of neural responses can hold robust neural representations when dynamic stimuli are processed through a hierarchical brain structure, in which not only random noise but also systematic error due to temporal lag can be induced.

In the present study, we showed that smoothness via spatio-temporally efficient coding can achieve both efficiency and robustness by effectively dealing with noise and neural delay in the visual hierarchy when processing dynamic visual stimuli.

The simulation results demonstrated that a hierarchical neural network whose bidirectional synaptic connections were learned through spatio-temporally efficient coding with natural scenes could elicit neural responses to visual moving bars similar to those to static bars with the identical position and orientation, indicating robust neural responses against erroneous neural information. It implies that spatio-temporally efficient coding preserves the structure of visual environments locally in the neural responses of hierarchical structures.

The present results suggest the importance of a balance between efficiency and robustness in neural coding for visual processing of dynamic stimuli across hierarchical brain structures.