Papers › Reinforcement Learning with Brain-Inspired Modulation can Improve Adaptation to...
Reinforcement Learning with Brain-Inspired Modulation can Improve Adaptation to Environmental Changes
Eric Chalmers, Artur Luczak
Developments in reinforcement learning (RL) have allowed algorithms to achieve impressive performance in highly complex, but largely static problems. In contrast, biological learning seems to value efficiency of adaptation to a constantly-changing world. Here we build on a recently-proposed neuronal learning rule that assumes each neuron can optimize its energy balance by predicting its own future activity. That assumption leads to a neuronal learning rule that uses presynaptic input to modulate prediction error. We argue that an analogous RL rule would use action probability to modulate reward prediction error. This modulation makes the agent more sensitive to negative experiences, and more careful in forming preferences. We embed the proposed rule in both tabular and deep-Q-network RL algorithms, and find that it outperforms conventional algorithms in simple, but highly-dynamic tasks. We suggest that the new rule encapsulates a core principle of biological intelligence; an important component for allowing algorithms to adapt to change in a human-like way.
Code
Repository list and official/mentioned flags are the archive's, frozen 2025-07-28. Reachability, where shown, is from one Syntology probe window (2026-09-16 to 2026-09-18); repositories not probed show nothing. GitHub stars are not tracked.
Code Syntology ran Syntology
Not run by Syntology. Nothing on this page verifies that the listed code works.
Tasks
Results from the paper archive 2025-07-28
No leaderboard rows for this paper in the archive.
Report a problem or propose a change · a person checks every report against the paper or source before anything changes; decisions are listed on /corrections