Unsupervised sleep-like intra- and inter-layer plasticity categorizes and improves energy efficiency in a multilayer spiking network

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Tonielli, Leonardo, Lupo, Cosimo, Pastorelli, Elena, De Bonis, Giulia, Simula, Francesco, Lonardo, Alessandro, Paolucci, Pier Stanislao
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Tonielli, Leonardo
Lupo, Cosimo
Pastorelli, Elena
De Bonis, Giulia
Simula, Francesco
Lonardo, Alessandro
Paolucci, Pier Stanislao
author_facet Tonielli, Leonardo
Lupo, Cosimo
Pastorelli, Elena
De Bonis, Giulia
Simula, Francesco
Lonardo, Alessandro
Paolucci, Pier Stanislao
contents Sleep is thought to support memory consolidation and the recovery of optimal energetic regime by reorganizing synaptic connectivity, yet how plasticity across hierarchical brain circuits contributes to abstraction and energy efficiency remains unclear. Here we study a spiking multi-layer network alternating wake-like and deep-sleep-like states, with state-dependent dendritic integration and synaptic plasticity in a biologically inspired thalamo-cortical framework. During wakefulness, the model learns from few perceived examples, while during deep sleep it undergoes spontaneous replay driven by slow oscillations. Plasticity enabled not only within intra-layer connections, but also in inter-layer pathways, is critical for memory consolidation and energetic downshift. Compared to restricted plasticity, full inter-layer plasticity yields higher post-sleep visual classification accuracy and promotes the emergence of sharper class-specific associations. Furthermore, we introduce a biophysically grounded estimator of metabolic power expressing network energy consumption in ATP units, partitioned into baseline, synaptic maintenance, action potential, and transmission costs. We find that inter-layer plasticity in sleep leads to a larger reduction in firing rates, synaptic strength and synaptic activity, corresponding to a substantially larger decrease in power consumption. This work suggests promising elements to be integrated in neuromorphic/energy-efficient AI learning systems, supported by brain state-specific apical mechanisms.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_17523
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Unsupervised sleep-like intra- and inter-layer plasticity categorizes and improves energy efficiency in a multilayer spiking network
Tonielli, Leonardo
Lupo, Cosimo
Pastorelli, Elena
De Bonis, Giulia
Simula, Francesco
Lonardo, Alessandro
Paolucci, Pier Stanislao
Neurons and Cognition
Biological Physics
Sleep is thought to support memory consolidation and the recovery of optimal energetic regime by reorganizing synaptic connectivity, yet how plasticity across hierarchical brain circuits contributes to abstraction and energy efficiency remains unclear. Here we study a spiking multi-layer network alternating wake-like and deep-sleep-like states, with state-dependent dendritic integration and synaptic plasticity in a biologically inspired thalamo-cortical framework. During wakefulness, the model learns from few perceived examples, while during deep sleep it undergoes spontaneous replay driven by slow oscillations. Plasticity enabled not only within intra-layer connections, but also in inter-layer pathways, is critical for memory consolidation and energetic downshift. Compared to restricted plasticity, full inter-layer plasticity yields higher post-sleep visual classification accuracy and promotes the emergence of sharper class-specific associations. Furthermore, we introduce a biophysically grounded estimator of metabolic power expressing network energy consumption in ATP units, partitioned into baseline, synaptic maintenance, action potential, and transmission costs. We find that inter-layer plasticity in sleep leads to a larger reduction in firing rates, synaptic strength and synaptic activity, corresponding to a substantially larger decrease in power consumption. This work suggests promising elements to be integrated in neuromorphic/energy-efficient AI learning systems, supported by brain state-specific apical mechanisms.
title Unsupervised sleep-like intra- and inter-layer plasticity categorizes and improves energy efficiency in a multilayer spiking network
topic Neurons and Cognition
Biological Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.17523