DeepMind Explores Deep RL for Brain and Behaviour Research

As a basis for modelling brain function, deep learning has in recent years been used to model systems in vision, audition, motor control, navigation, and cognitive control. In a new paper, DeepMind researchers call attention to another "fundamentally novel" development in AI research -- deep reinforcement learning (deep RL) -- which they believe also has vital implications for neuroscience and deserves more attention from neuroscientists. The first neuroscience applications of supervised deep learning can be traced back to the 1980s. The increasing availability of more powerful computers over the past decade has renewed research efforts in applying AI approaches -- especially supervised deep learning -- to neuroscience. Deep RL unites deep learning and reinforcement learning, a computational framework that has already had a substantial impact on neuroscience research.