Do neural networks need rest like human brains to perform well? - Sci-n-Tech

Androids may or may not have to count digital sheep to catch a wink, but they will almost certainly need periods of rest to perform consistently. The reason: When rested, neural networks perform better, similar to how human brains benefit from sleep. This is the hypothesis of a new research from Los Alamos National Laboratory. "We study spiking neural networks, which are systems that learn much as living brains do," said Los Alamos National Laboratory computer scientist Yijing Watkins. "We were fascinated by the prospect of training a neuromorphic processor in a manner analogous to how humans and other biological systems learn from their environment during childhood development."