Hierarchical Predictive Coding Models in a Deep-Learning Framework

Bayesian predictive coding is a putative neuromorphic method for acquiring higher-level neural representations to account for sensory input. Although originating in the neuroscience community, there are also efforts in the machine learning community to study these models. This paper reviews some of the more well known models. Our review analyzes module connectivity and patterns of information transfer, seeking to find general principles used across the models. We also survey some recent attempts to cast these models within a deep learning framework. A defining feature of Bayesian predictive coding is that it uses top-down, reconstructive mechanisms to predict incoming sensory inputs or their lower-level representations. Discrepancies between the predicted and the actual inputs, known as prediction errors, then give rise to future learning that refines and improves the predictive accuracy of learned higher-level representations. Predictive coding models intended to describe computations in the neocortex emerged prior to the development of deep learning and used a communication structure between modules that we name the Rao-Ballard protocol. This protocol was derived from a Bayesian generative model with some rather strong statistical assumptions. The RB protocol provides a rubric to assess the fidelity of deep learning models that claim to implement predictive coding.

Inception-inspired LSTM for Next-frame Video Prediction

The problem of video frame prediction has received much interest due to its relevance to many computer vision applications such as autonomous vehicles or robotics. Supervised methods for video frame prediction rely on labeled data, which may not always be available. In this paper, we provide a novel unsupervised deep-learning method called Inception-based LSTM for video frame prediction. The general idea of inception networks is to implement wider networks instead of deeper networks. This network design was shown to improve the performance of image classification. The proposed method is evaluated on both Inception-v1 and Inception-v2 structures. The proposed Inception LSTM methods are compared with convolutional LSTM when applied using PredNet predictive coding framework for both the KITTI and KTH data sets. We observed that the Inception based LSTM outperforms the convolutional LSTM. Also, Inception LSTM has better prediction performance compared to Inception v2 LSTM. However, Inception v2 LSTM has a lower computational cost compared to Inception LSTM.