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Summary statistics of learning link changing neural representations to behavior

Neurons and Cognition 2025-09-08 v3

Abstract

How can we make sense of large-scale recordings of neural activity across learning? Theories of neural network learning with their origins in statistical physics offer a potential answer: for a given task, there are often a small set of summary statistics that are sufficient to predict performance as the network learns. Here, we review recent advances in how summary statistics can be used to build theoretical understanding of neural network learning. We then argue for how this perspective can inform the analysis of neural data, enabling better understanding of learning in biological and artificial neural networks.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2504.16920,
  title  = {Summary statistics of learning link changing neural representations to behavior},
  author = {Jacob A. Zavatone-Veth and Blake Bordelon and Cengiz Pehlevan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.16920},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

12 pages, 2 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-28T23:08:52.422Z