Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) are like complex machines that can keep running without any external input. But when it comes to processing information, RNNs need to receive signals from the outside world. Scientists have been trying to figure out which dynamic regime is best suited for this task. By measuring average correlations and mutual information, they discovered that the optimal regime for information import is not at the edge of chaos, where RNNs are most efficient at computation. Instead, it lies in the low-density chaotic regime and at the border between chaos and fixed points. Additionally, they observed a new phenomenon called ‘Import Resonance’ where information import reaches its peak with a certain coupling strength between the RNN and external input. This finding, along with the previously known ‘Recurrence Resonance,’ could be used to optimize information processing in artificial neural networks and potentially shed light on how biological neural systems function.

Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) are complex dynamical systems, capable of ongoing activity without any driving input. The long-term behavior of free-running RNNs, described by periodic, chaotic and fixed point attractors, is controlled by the statistics of the neural connection weights, such as the density d of non-zero connections, or the balance b between excitatory and inhibitory connections. However, for information processing purposes, RNNs need to receive external input signals, and it is not clear which of the dynamical regimes is optimal for this information import. We use both the average correlations C and the mutual information I between the momentary input vector and the next system state vector as quantitative measures of information import and analyze their dependence on the balance and density of the network. Remarkably, both resulting phase diagrams C(b, d) and I(b, d) are highly consistent, pointing to a link between the dynamical systems and the information-processing approach to complex systems. Information import is maximal not at the “edge of chaos,” which is optimally suited for computation, but surprisingly in the low-density chaotic regime and at the border between the chaotic and fixed point regime. Moreover, we find a completely new type of resonance phenomenon, which we call “Import Resonance” (IR), where the information import shows a maximum, i.e., a peak-like dependence on the coupling strength between the RNN and its external input. IR complements previously found Recurrence Resonance (RR), where correlation and mutual information of successive system states peak for a certain amplitude of noise added to the system. Both IR and RR can be exploited to optimize information processing in artificial neural networks and might also play a crucial role in biological neural systems.

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