Unsupervised learnable neuron model with nonlinear interaction on dendrites

Recent researches have provided strong circumstantial support to dendrites playing a key and possibly essential role in computations. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised learnable neuron model by including the nonlinear interactions between excitation and inhibition on dendrites. The model neuron self-adjusts its synaptic parameters, so that the synapse to dendrite, according to a generalized delta-rule-like algorithm. The model is used to simulate directionally selective cells by the unsupervised learning algorithm. In the simulations, we initialize the interaction and dendrite of the neuron randomly and use the generalized delta-rule-like unsupervised learning algorithm to learn the two-dimensional multi-directional selectivity problem without an external teacher’s signals. Simulation results show that the directionally selective cells can be formed by unsupervised learning, acquiring the required number of dendritic branches, and if needed, enhanced and if not, eliminated. Further, the results show whether a synapse exists; if it exists, where and what type (excitatory or inhibitory) of synapse it is. This leads us to believe that the proposed neuron model may be considerably more powerful on computations than the McCulloch–Pitts model because theoretically a single neuron or a single layer of such neurons is capable of solving any complex problem. These may also lead to a completely new technique for analyzing the mechanisms and principles of neurons, dendrites, and synapses.