Pearlmutter Barak A, Houghton Conor J
Hamilton Institute, NUI Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland.
Neural Comput. 2009 Jun;21(6):1622-41. doi: 10.1162/neco.2009.05-08-787.
We propose that the critical function of sleep is to prevent uncontrolled neuronal feedback while allowing rapid responses and prolonged retention of short-term memories. Through learning, the brain is tuned to react optimally to environmental challenges. Optimal behavior often requires rapid responses and the prolonged retention of short-term memories. At a neuronal level, these correspond to recurrent activity in local networks. Unfortunately, when a network exhibits recurrent activity, small changes in the parameters or conditions can lead to runaway oscillations. Thus, the very changes that improve the processing performance of the network can put it at risk of runaway oscillation. To prevent this, stimulus-dependent network changes should be permitted only when there is a margin of safety around the current network parameters. We propose that the essential role of sleep is to establish this margin by exposing the network to a variety of inputs, monitoring for erratic behavior, and adjusting the parameters. When sleep is not possible, an emergency mechanism must come into play, preventing runaway behavior at the expense of processing efficiency. This is tiredness.
我们提出，睡眠的关键功能是在允许快速反应和短期记忆的长期保留的同时，防止不受控制的神经元反馈。通过学习，大脑被调整为对环境挑战做出最佳反应。最佳行为通常需要快速反应和短期记忆的长期保留。在神经元层面，这些对应于局部网络中的循环活动。不幸的是，当一个网络表现出循环活动时，参数或条件的微小变化可能导致失控振荡。因此，改善网络处理性能的这些变化可能使其面临失控振荡的风险。为了防止这种情况，只有当当前网络参数周围存在安全边际时，才应允许依赖刺激的网络变化。我们提出，睡眠的重要作用是通过使网络暴露于各种输入、监测不稳定行为并调整参数来建立这种边际。当无法入睡时，一种应急机制必须发挥作用，以处理效率为代价防止失控行为。这就是疲劳。
