arXiv Machine Learning

On the second-order optimization for spiking neural networks

The paper introduces SpiKFAX, a second‑order optimization technique for Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) that uses a Kronecker‑factored approximation of the Fisher information matrix tailored to the sparse, discrete, and temporally recurrent dynamics of SNNs. By addressing the sharp loss landscape that hampers training with conventional optimizers, SpiKFAX improves test accuracy and training stability across five architectures and seven datasets. The method offers a computationally tractable alternative to existing curvature‑based approaches for SNNs.

arXiv Machine Learning
Jun 11

A2SG:Adaptive and Asymmetric Surrogate Gradients for Training Deep Spiking Neural Networks

arXiv:2606. 11236v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Training deep spiking neural networks (SNNs) remains challenging due to sharp loss landscapes and temporal inconsistency caused by surrogate gradients.

By Yechan Kang, Yongjin Kweon, Mingyeong Seo, Sohee Park, Yeonguk Jeon, Jongkil Park, Hyun Jae Jang, Jaewook Kim, YeonJoo Jeong, Suyoun Lee, Seongsik Park
arXiv AI
Aug 11

SuperNeuroMAT: An Efficient Matrix-based Simulator for Spiking Neural Networks

arXiv:2608. 08479v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Spiking neural networks (SNNs) offer a promising pathway to energy-efficient AI and brain-inspired computing.

By Prasanna Date, Kevin Zhu, Shruti Kulkarni, Ashish Gautam, Chathika Gunaratne, Robert Patton, Tyler Nitzsche, Ian Mulet, Zachary Johnson-Scott, Addison Helms, Duncan Rowden, Simon Weston, Maryam Parsa, Catherine Schuman, Thomas Potok
arXiv AI
2d ago

Contrastive Attention Mitigates Spectral Bias in Spiking Transformers

The paper introduces Spiking Contrastive Attention (SCA), a module designed to reduce spectral bias in Spiking Transformers by enhancing high‑frequency information. It demonstrates that spiking neurons and spiking self‑attention act as low‑pass filters, leading to loss of high‑frequency components. Experiments show that SCA improves performance across image classification, semantic segmentation, and event‑based tracking while maintaining lower complexity than the original spiking self‑attention.

By Xiaoli Liu, Malu Zhang, Yang Yang
arXiv AI
Sep 21

Continuous Spiking Graph Neural Networks

arXiv:2404.01897v3 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Continuous graph neural networks (CGNNs) have garnered significant attention due to their ability to generalize existing discrete graph neura...

By Shiqi Fan, Zeqing Zhang, Nan Yin, Tong Li, Hongyi Nie, Die Hu, Wen Hua
arXiv AI
Aug 17

SAGE: Surrogate-gradient Adaptation via Attention-Guided Entropy for Spiking Transformers

arXiv:2608. 13702v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Spiking neural networks (SNNs) offer an energy-efficient alternative to conventional deep neural networks by exploiting sparse event-driven computation, but their training remains challenging because the non-differentiable spike function requires surrogate gradients whose fixed shape may be suboptimal across layers and training stages.

By Kiran Nair, Rodrigue Rizk, KC Santosh
arXiv AI
Jun 19

Hybrid ANN-SNN Pipeline with Local Plasticity

arXiv:2606. 20151v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: This work proposes a hybrid ANN-SNN pipeline that effectively leverages the rich embeddings of pretrained artificial neural networks (ANNs) to enable high-performance spiking neural networks (SNNs).

By Denis Larionov, Khairutin Shtanchaev, Mikhail Kiselev, Mikhail Korovin, Ivan Tugoy
arXiv AI
2d ago

SpikeMoE: Brain-Inspired Competitive Routing for Flexible Spiking Mixture-of-Experts

SpikeMoE introduces a spike-based k‑WTA router that uses lateral inhibition and refractory periods to select the top‑K experts based on discrete spike counts, inspired by hippocampal CA1 competition. The framework combines spiking neural network dynamics with mixture‑of‑experts conditional computation and adds a two‑stage missing‑modality module for robust multimodal processing. Experiments on vision, language, and multimodal tasks show that SpikeMoE matches or surpasses ANN baselines while offering energy‑efficient performance.

By Xiaoli Liu, Yujie Liang, Jialin Li, Malu Zhang