R-FORCE: Robust Learning for Random Recurrent Neural Networks

Random Recurrent Neural Networks (RRNN) are the simplest recurrent networks to model and extract features from sequential data. The simplicity however comes with a price; RRNN are known to be susceptible to diminishing/exploding gradient problem when trained with gradient-descent based optimization. To enhance robustness of RRNN, alternative training approaches have been proposed. Specifically, FORCE learning approach proposed a recursive least squares alternative to train RRNN and was shown to be applicable even for the challenging task of target-learning, where the network is tasked with generating dynamic patterns with no guiding input. While FORCE training indicates that solving target-learning is possible, it appears to be effective only in a specific regime of network dynamics (edge-of-chaos). We thereby investigate whether initialization of RRNN connectivity according to a tailored distribution can guarantee robust FORCE learning. We are able to generate such distribution by inference of four generating principles constraining the spectrum of the network Jacobian to remain in stability region. This initialization along with FORCE learning provides a robust training method, i.e., Robust-FORCE (R-FORCE). We validate R-FORCE performance on various target functions for a wide range of network configurations and compare with alternative methods. Our experiments indicate that R-FORCE facilitates significantly more stable and accurate target-learning for a wide class of RRNN. Such stability becomes critical in modeling multi-dimensional sequences as we demonstrate on modeling time-series of human body joints during physical movements.