Evaluating Representational Similarity Measures from the Lens of Functional Correspondence

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Main Authors: Bo, Yiqing, Soni, Ansh, Srivastava, Sudhanshu, Khosla, Meenakshi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Bo, Yiqing
Soni, Ansh
Srivastava, Sudhanshu
Khosla, Meenakshi
author_facet Bo, Yiqing
Soni, Ansh
Srivastava, Sudhanshu
Khosla, Meenakshi
contents Neuroscience and artificial intelligence (AI) both face the challenge of interpreting high-dimensional neural data, where the comparative analysis of such data is crucial for revealing shared mechanisms and differences between these complex systems. Despite the widespread use of representational comparisons and the abundance classes of comparison methods, a critical question remains: which metrics are most suitable for these comparisons? While some studies evaluate metrics based on their ability to differentiate models of different origins or constructions (e.g., various architectures), another approach is to assess how well they distinguish models that exhibit distinct behaviors. To investigate this, we examine the degree of alignment between various representational similarity measures and behavioral outcomes, employing group statistics and a comprehensive suite of behavioral metrics for comparison. In our evaluation of eight commonly used representational similarity metrics in the visual domain -- spanning alignment-based, Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA)-based, inner product kernel-based, and nearest-neighbor methods -- we found that metrics like linear Centered Kernel Alignment (CKA) and Procrustes distance, which emphasize the overall geometric structure or shape of representations, excelled in differentiating trained from untrained models and aligning with behavioral measures, whereas metrics such as linear predictivity, commonly used in neuroscience, demonstrated only moderate alignment with behavior. These insights are crucial for selecting metrics that emphasize behaviorally meaningful comparisons in NeuroAI research.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_14633
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Evaluating Representational Similarity Measures from the Lens of Functional Correspondence
Bo, Yiqing
Soni, Ansh
Srivastava, Sudhanshu
Khosla, Meenakshi
Neurons and Cognition
Artificial Intelligence
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Neuroscience and artificial intelligence (AI) both face the challenge of interpreting high-dimensional neural data, where the comparative analysis of such data is crucial for revealing shared mechanisms and differences between these complex systems. Despite the widespread use of representational comparisons and the abundance classes of comparison methods, a critical question remains: which metrics are most suitable for these comparisons? While some studies evaluate metrics based on their ability to differentiate models of different origins or constructions (e.g., various architectures), another approach is to assess how well they distinguish models that exhibit distinct behaviors. To investigate this, we examine the degree of alignment between various representational similarity measures and behavioral outcomes, employing group statistics and a comprehensive suite of behavioral metrics for comparison. In our evaluation of eight commonly used representational similarity metrics in the visual domain -- spanning alignment-based, Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA)-based, inner product kernel-based, and nearest-neighbor methods -- we found that metrics like linear Centered Kernel Alignment (CKA) and Procrustes distance, which emphasize the overall geometric structure or shape of representations, excelled in differentiating trained from untrained models and aligning with behavioral measures, whereas metrics such as linear predictivity, commonly used in neuroscience, demonstrated only moderate alignment with behavior. These insights are crucial for selecting metrics that emphasize behaviorally meaningful comparisons in NeuroAI research.
title Evaluating Representational Similarity Measures from the Lens of Functional Correspondence
topic Neurons and Cognition
Artificial Intelligence
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.14633