A Survey of Neural Trees
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Abstract (arXiv)
Neural networks (NNs) and decision trees (DTs) are both popular models of machine learning, yet coming with mutually exclusive advantages and limitations. To bring the best of the two worlds, a variety of approaches are proposed to integrate NNs and DTs explicitly or implicitly. In this survey, these approaches are organized in a school which we term as neural trees (NTs). This survey aims to present a comprehensive review of NTs and attempts to identify how they enhance the model interpretability. We first propose a thorough taxonomy of NTs that expresses the gradual integration and co-evolution of NNs and DTs. Afterward, we analyze NTs in terms of their interpretability and performance, and suggest possible solutions to the remaining challenges. Finally, this survey concludes with a discussion about other considerations like conditional computation and promising directions towards this field. A list of papers reviewed in this survey, along with their corresponding codes, is available at: https://github.com/zju-vipa/awesome-neural-trees
Key facts. Cited by 7 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 60 of its 177 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 7 Sep 2022.
Builds on
60 of 177 references.
References · 60
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38 more
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50 most cited of 60 All 60 (JSON)
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Citing papers per year: 2023: 1; 2024: 3; 2025: 1; 2026: 2.
7 papers.
- 20233VL: Using Trees to Improve Vision-Language Models' Interpretabilitycited by 7
- 2025From GNNs to Trees: Multi-Granular Interpretability for Graph Neural Networkscited by 4
- 2024Efficient Normalized Conformal Prediction and Uncertainty Quantification for Anti-Cancer Drug Sensitivity Prediction with Deep Regression Forestscited by 1
- 2024Forecasting with Hyper-Treescited by 1
- 2024Vehicle Behavior Prediction by Episodic-Memory Implanted NDTcited by 0
- 2026Enhancing LIME using Neural Decision Treescited by 0
- 2026MotherTree: Meta-learning on synthetic data improves decision tree trainingcited by 0
- 2026MotherTree: Meta-learning on synthetic data improves decision tree training7 Oct 2026
- 2026Enhancing LIME using Neural Decision Trees21 Mar 2026
- 2025From GNNs to Trees: Multi-Granular Interpretability for Graph Neural Networks1 May 2025
- 2024Forecasting with Hyper-Trees13 May 2024
- 2024Efficient Normalized Conformal Prediction and Uncertainty Quantification for Anti-Cancer Drug Sensitivity Prediction with Deep Regression Forests21 Feb 2024
- 2024Vehicle Behavior Prediction by Episodic-Memory Implanted NDT13 Feb 2024
- 20233VL: Using Trees to Improve Vision-Language Models' Interpretability28 Dec 2023