Artificial Neural Networks Learn Better When They Spend Time Not Learning at All - Neuroscience News

Summary: "Off-line" periods during AI training mitigated "catastrophic forgetting" in artificial neural networks, mimicking the learning benefits sleep provides in the human brain. Depending on age, humans need 7 to 13 hours of sleep per 24 hours. During this time, a lot happens: Heart rate, breathing and metabolism ebb and flow; hormone levels adjust; the body relaxes. "The brain is very busy when we sleep, repeating what we have learned during the day," said Maxim Bazhenov, PhD, professor of medicine and a sleep researcher at University of California San Diego School of Medicine. "Sleep helps reorganize memories and presents them in the most efficient way."