Author name cluster

Sen Song

Possible papers associated with this exact author name in Arrow. This page groups case-insensitive exact name matches and is not a full identity disambiguation profile.

12 papers

2 author rows

NeurIPS Conference 2025 Conference Paper

Bridging Scales: Spectral Theory Reveals How Local Connectivity Rules Sculpt Global Neural Dynamics in Spatially Extended Networks

Yuhan Huang
Keren Gao
Dongping Yang
Sen Song
Guozhang Chen

The brain's diverse spatiotemporal activity patterns are fundamental to cognition and consciousness, yet how these macroscopic dynamics emerge from microscopic neural circuitry remains a critical challenge. We take a step in this direction by developing a spatially extended neural network model integrated with a spectral theory of its connectivity matrix. Our theory quantitatively demonstrates how local structural parameters, such as E/I neuron projection ranges, connection strengths, and density determine distinct features of the eigenvalue spectrum, specifically outlier eigenvalues and a bulk disk. These spectral signatures, in turn, precisely predict the network's emergent global dynamical regime, encompassing asynchronous states, synchronous states, oscillations, localized activity bumps, traveling waves, and chaos. Motivated by observations of shifting cortical dynamics in mice across arousal states, our framework not only provides a possible explanation for repertoire of behaviors but also offers a principled starting point for inferring underlying effective connectivity changes from macroscopic brain activity. By mechanistically linking neural structure to dynamics, this work advances a principled framework for dissecting how large-scale activity patterns—central to cognition and open questions in consciousness research—arise from, and constrain, local circuitry. The implementation code is available at https: //github. com/huang-yh20/spatial-linear-project.

PDF Details

YNIMG Journal 2024 Journal Article

Contrastive learning of shared spatiotemporal EEG representations across individuals for naturalistic neuroscience

Xinke Shen
Lingyi Tao
Xuyang Chen
Sen Song
Quanying Liu
Dan Zhang

Neural representations induced by naturalistic stimuli offer insights into how humans respond to stimuli in daily life. Understanding neural mechanisms underlying naturalistic stimuli processing hinges on the precise identification and extraction of the shared neural patterns that are consistently present across individuals. Targeting the Electroencephalogram (EEG) technique, known for its rich spatial and temporal information, this study presents a framework for Contrastive Learning of Shared SpatioTemporal EEG Representations across individuals (CL-SSTER). CL-SSTER utilizes contrastive learning to maximize the similarity of EEG representations across individuals for identical stimuli, contrasting with those for varied stimuli. The network employs spatial and temporal convolutions to simultaneously learn the spatial and temporal patterns inherent in EEG. The versatility of CL-SSTER was demonstrated on three EEG datasets, including a synthetic dataset, a natural speech comprehension EEG dataset, and an emotional video watching EEG dataset. CL-SSTER attained the highest inter-subject correlation (ISC) values compared to the state-of-the-art ISC methods. The latent representations generated by CL-SSTER exhibited reliable spatiotemporal EEG patterns, which can be explained by properties of the naturalistic stimuli. CL-SSTER serves as an interpretable and scalable framework for the identification of inter-subject shared neural representations in naturalistic neuroscience.

Details DOI

ICLR Conference 2024 Conference Paper

OpenChat: Advancing Open-source Language Models with Mixed-Quality Data

Guan Wang
Sijie Cheng
Xianyuan Zhan
Xiangang Li
Sen Song
Yang Liu 0165

Nowadays, open-source large language models like LLaMA have emerged. Recent developments have incorporated supervised fine-tuning (SFT) and reinforcement learning fine-tuning (RLFT) to align these models with human goals. However, SFT methods treat all training data with mixed quality equally, while RLFT methods require high-quality pairwise or ranking-based preference data. In this study, we present a novel framework, named OpenChat, to advance open-source language models with mixed-quality data. Specifically, we consider the general SFT training data, consisting of a small amount of expert data mixed with a large proportion of sub-optimal data, without any preference labels. We propose the C(onditioned)-RLFT, which regards different data sources as coarse-grained reward labels and learns a class-conditioned policy to leverage complementary data quality information. Interestingly, the optimal policy in C-RLFT can be easily solved through single-stage, RL-free supervised learning, which is lightweight and avoids costly human preference labeling. Through extensive experiments on three standard benchmarks, our openchat-13b fine-tuned with C-RLFT achieves the highest average performance among all 13b open-source language models. Moreover, we use AGIEval to validate the model generalization performance, in which only openchat-13b surpasses the base model. Finally, we conduct a series of analyses to shed light on the effectiveness and robustness of OpenChat. Our code, data, and models are publicly available at https://github.com/imoneoi/openchat and https://huggingface.co/openchat.

Details

NeurIPS Conference 2023 Conference Paper

Evolving Connectivity for Recurrent Spiking Neural Networks

Guan Wang
Yuhao Sun
Sijie Cheng
Sen Song

Recurrent spiking neural networks (RSNNs) hold great potential for advancing artificial general intelligence, as they draw inspiration from the biological nervous system and show promise in modeling complex dynamics. However, the widely-used surrogate gradient-based training methods for RSNNs are inherently inaccurate and unfriendly to neuromorphic hardware. To address these limitations, we propose the evolving connectivity (EC) framework, an inference-only method for training RSNNs. The EC framework reformulates weight-tuning as a search into parameterized connection probability distributions, and employs Natural Evolution Strategies (NES) for optimizing these distributions. Our EC framework circumvents the need for gradients and features hardware-friendly characteristics, including sparse boolean connections and high scalability. We evaluate EC on a series of standard robotic locomotion tasks, where it achieves comparable performance with deep neural networks and outperforms gradient-trained RSNNs, even solving the complex 17-DoF humanoid task. Additionally, the EC framework demonstrates a two to three fold speedup in efficiency compared to directly evolving parameters. By providing a performant and hardware-friendly alternative, the EC framework lays the groundwork for further energy-efficient applications of RSNNs and advances the development of neuromorphic devices. Our code is publicly available at https: //github. com/imoneoi/EvolvingConnectivity.

PDF Details

AAAI Conference 2023 Conference Paper

Nested Named Entity Recognition as Building Local Hypergraphs

Yukun Yan
Bingling Cai
Sen Song

Named entity recognition is a fundamental task in natural language processing. Based on the sequence labeling paradigm for flat named entity recognition, multiple methods have been developed to handle the nested structures. However, they either require fixed recognition order or introduce complex hypergraphs. To tackle this problem, we propose a novel model named Local Hypergraph Builder Network (LHBN) that builds multiple simpler local hypergraphs to capture named entities instead of a single complex full-size hypergraph. The proposed model has three main properties: (1) The named entities that share boundaries are captured in the same local hypergraph. (2) The boundary information is enhanced by building local hypergraphs. (3) The hypergraphs can be built bidirectionally to take advantage of the identification direction preference of different named entities. Experiments illustrate that our model outperforms previous state-of-the-art methods on four widely used nested named entity recognition datasets: ACE04, ACE05, GENIA, and KBP17. The code is available at https://github.com/yanyk13/local-hypergraph-building-network.git.

PDF Details DOI

NeurIPS Conference 2022 Conference Paper

Learning Robust Rule Representations for Abstract Reasoning via Internal Inferences

Wenbo Zhang
likai tang
Site Mo
Xianggen Liu
Sen Song

Abstract reasoning, as one of the hallmarks of human intelligence, involves collecting information, identifying abstract rules, and applying the rules to solve new problems. Although neural networks have achieved human-level performances in several tasks, the abstract reasoning techniques still far lag behind due to the complexity of learning and applying the logic rules, especially in an unsupervised manner. In this work, we propose a novel framework, ARII, that learns rule representations for Abstract Reasoning via Internal Inferences. The key idea is to repeatedly apply a rule to different instances in hope of having a comprehensive understanding (i. e. , representations) of the rule. Specifically, ARII consists of a rule encoder, a reasoner, and an internal referrer. Based on the representations produced by the rule encoder, the reasoner draws the conclusion while the referrer performs internal inferences to regularize rule representations to be robust and generalizable. We evaluate ARII on two benchmark datasets, including PGM and I-RAVEN. We observe that ARII achieves new state-of-the-art records on the majority of the reasoning tasks, including most of the generalization tests in PGM. Our codes are available at https: //github. com/Zhangwenbo0324/ARII.

PDF Details

IJCAI Conference 2021 Conference Paper

Pairwise Half-graph Discrimination: A Simple Graph-level Self-supervised Strategy for Pre-training Graph Neural Networks

Pengyong Li
Jun Wang
Ziliang Li
Yixuan Qiao
Xianggen Liu
Fei Ma
Peng Gao
Sen Song

Self-supervised learning has gradually emerged as a powerful technique for graph representation learning. However, transferable, generalizable, and robust representation learning on graph data still remains a challenge for pre-training graph neural networks. In this paper, we propose a simple and effective self-supervised pre-training strategy, named Pairwise Half-graph Discrimination (PHD), that explicitly pre-trains a graph neural network at graph-level. PHD is designed as a simple binary classification task to discriminate whether two half-graphs come from the same source. Experiments demonstrate that the PHD is an effective pre-training strategy that offers comparable or superior performance on 13 graph classification tasks compared with state-of-the-art strategies, and achieves notable improvements when combined with node-level strategies. Moreover, the visualization of learned representation revealed that PHD strategy indeed empowers the model to learn graph-level knowledge like the molecular scaffold. These results have established PHD as a powerful and effective self-supervised learning strategy in graph-level representation learning.

PDF Details DOI

ICML Conference 2020 Conference Paper

A Chance-Constrained Generative Framework for Sequence Optimization

Xianggen Liu
Qiang Liu 0001
Sen Song
Jian Peng 0001

Deep generative modeling has achieved many successes for continuous data generation, such as producing realistic images and controlling their properties (e. g. , styles). However, the development of generative modeling techniques for optimizing discrete data, such as sequences or strings, still lags behind largely due to the challenges in modeling complex and long-range constraints, including both syntax and semantics, in discrete structures. In this paper, we formulate the sequence optimization task as a chance-constrained optimization problem. The key idea is to enforce a high probability of generating valid sequences and also optimize the property of interest. We propose a novel minimax algorithm to simultaneously tighten a bound of the valid chance and optimize the expected property. Extensive experimental results in three domains demonstrate the superiority of our approach over the existing sequence optimization methods.

Details

YNIMG Journal 2018 Journal Article

Dual-TRACER: High resolution fMRI with constrained evolution reconstruction

Xuesong Li
Xiaodong Ma
Lyu Li
Zhe Zhang
Xue Zhang
Yan Tong
Lihong Wang
Sen Song

fMRI with high spatial resolution is beneficial for studies in psychology and neuroscience, but is limited by various factors such as prolonged imaging time, low signal to noise ratio and scarcity of advanced facilities. Compressed Sensing (CS) based methods for accelerating fMRI data acquisition are promising. Other advanced algorithms like k-t FOCUSS or PICCS have been developed to improve performance. This study aims to investigate a new method, Dual-TRACER, based on Temporal Resolution Acceleration with Constrained Evolution Reconstruction (TRACER), for accelerating fMRI acquisitions using golden angle variable density spiral. Both numerical simulations and in vivo experiments at 3T were conducted to evaluate and characterize this method. Results show that Dual-TRACER can provide functional images with a high spatial resolution (1×1mm2) under an acceleration factor of 20 while maintaining hemodynamic signals well. Compared with other investigated methods, dual-TRACER provides a better signal recovery, higher fMRI sensitivity and more reliable activation detection.

Details DOI

IJCAI Conference 2018 Conference Paper

Jumper: Learning When to Make Classification Decision in Reading

Xianggen Liu
Lili Mou
Haotian Cui
Zhengdong Lu
Sen Song

In early years, text classification is typically accomplished by feature-based classifiers; recently, neural networks, as powerful classifiers, make it possible to work with raw input as the text stands. In this paper, we propose a novel framework, Jumper, inspired by the cognitive process of text reading, that models text classification as a sequential decision process. Basically, Jumper is a neural system that can scan a piece of text sequentially and make classification decision at the time it chooses. Both the classification and when to make the classification are part of the decision process which are controlled by the policy net and trained with reinforcement learning to maximize the overall classification accuracy. Experimental results show that a properly trained Jumper has the following properties: (1) It can make decisions whenever the evidence is enough, therefore reducing the total text reading by 30~40% and often finding the key rationale of prediction. (2) It can achieve classification accuracy better or comparable to state-of-the-art model in several benchmark and industrial datasets.

PDF Details

NeurIPS Conference 2014 Conference Paper

Attentional Neural Network: Feature Selection Using Cognitive Feedback

Qian Wang
Jiaxing Zhang
Sen Song
Zheng Zhang

Attentional Neural Network is a new framework that integrates top-down cognitive bias and bottom-up feature extraction in one coherent architecture. The top-down influence is especially effective when dealing with high noise or difficult segmentation problems. Our system is modular and extensible. It is also easy to train and cheap to run, and yet can accommodate complex behaviors. We obtain classification accuracy better than or competitive with state of art results on the MNIST variation dataset, and successfully disentangle overlaid digits with high success rates. We view such a general purpose framework as an essential foundation for a larger system emulating the cognitive abilities of the whole brain.

PDF Details

NeurIPS Conference 1998 Conference Paper

Temporally Asymmetric Hebbian Learning, Spike liming and Neural Response Variability

L. Abbott
Sen Song

Recent experimental data indicate that the strengthening or weakening of synaptic connections between neurons depends on the relative timing of pre- and postsynaptic action potentials. A Hebbian synaptic modification rule based on these data leads to a stable state in which the excitatory and inhibitory inputs to a neuron are balanced, producing an irregular pattern of firing. It has been proposed that neurons in vivo operate in such a mode.

PDF Details