Patent ID: 8504502

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for processing information using an information processing element, said information processing element for receiving at least two classes of inputs and for computing an output, the method comprising the steps of: receiving, by said information processing element, a first class of inputs, each input having a weight value and an activity, said activity having information about a value of an external variable; receiving, by said information processing element, a second class of inputs, each input having a weight value and an activity, said activity corresponding to a weighted sum of past outputs of said information processing element, said second class of inputs further comprising two subclasses, a Hebbian subclass and an anti-Hebbian subclass, distinguished from one another by the type of plasticity rule regulating said weight values, said Hebbian subclass comprising a plurality of inputs, each of said inputs having a distinct activity, said activity corresponding to a weighted sum of past outputs of said information processing element: computing, by said information processing element, said output of said information processing element using a function of a weighted sum of said activities of said first class of inputs and said second class of inputs, using said weight values of said first class of inputs and said second class of inputs; and modifying said weight values of said inputs in said second class to predict said output, through use any of a Hebbian-type plasticity rule for inputs of said Hebbian subclass and an anti-Hebbian-type plasticity rule for inputs of said anti-Hebbian subclass, said plasticity rules utilizing said activity of an input and a discrepancy between said output of said information processing element and an intermediate reference value of said output; wherein a weighted sum of said activities of said second class of inputs effectively learns to predict and amplify a weighted sum of said first class of inputs, and said output therefore corresponds to a predictive amplification of said weighted sum of said first class of inputs.