# MPN: Leveraging Multilingual Patch Neuron for Cross-lingual Model Editing

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.03190 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.03190/

## Key facts

- Cited by 9 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 25 of its 32 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 6 Jan 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 25 of 25)

- [BERT: Pre-training of Deep Bidirectional Transformers for Language Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.04805/) (2018)
- [LLaMA: Open and Efficient Foundation Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.13971/) (2023)
- [Axiomatic Attribution for Deep Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.01365/) (2017)
- [Locating and Editing Factual Associations in GPT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.05262/) (2022)
- [A Broad-Coverage Challenge Corpus for Sentence Understanding through Inference](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.05426/) (2017)
- [Transformer Feed-Forward Layers Are Key-Value Memories](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.14913/) (2020)
- [Mass-Editing Memory in a Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.07229/) (2022)
- [XNLI: Evaluating Cross-lingual Sentence Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.05053/) (2018)
- [Knowledge Neurons in Pretrained Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.08696/) (2021)
- [Editing Factual Knowledge in Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.08164/) (2021)
- [Fast Model Editing at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.11309/) (2021)
- [Memory-Based Model Editing at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.06520/) (2022)
- [MAD-X: An Adapter-Based Framework for Multi-Task Cross-Lingual Transfer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.00052/) (2020)
- [Zero-Shot Relation Extraction via Reading Comprehension](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.04115/) (2017)
- [Editing Large Language Models: Problems, Methods, and Opportunities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.13172/) (2023)
- [Aging with GRACE: Lifelong Model Editing with Discrete Key-Value Adaptors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.11031/) (2022)
- [Transformer-Patcher: One Mistake worth One Neuron](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.09785/) (2023)
- [Emerging Cross-lingual Structure in Pretrained Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.01464/) (2019)
- [PMET: Precise Model Editing in a Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.08742/) (2023)
- [Multilingual LAMA: Investigating Knowledge in Multilingual Pretrained Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.00894/) (2021)
- [Cross-Lingual Consistency of Factual Knowledge in Multilingual Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.10378/) (2023)
- [MELO: Enhancing Model Editing with Neuron-Indexed Dynamic LoRA](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.11795/) (2023)
- [Journey to the Center of the Knowledge Neurons: Discoveries of Language-Independent Knowledge Neurons and Degenerate Knowledge Neurons](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.13198/) (2023)
- [Language Anisotropic Cross-Lingual Model Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.12677/) (2022)
- [Cross-Lingual Transfer with Target Language-Ready Task Adapters](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.02767/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [Detoxifying Large Language Models via Knowledge Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.14472/) (2024)
- [Beneath the Surface of Consistency: Exploring Cross-lingual Knowledge Representation Sharing in LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.10646/) (2024)
- [Multilingual Knowledge Editing with Language-Agnostic Factual Neurons](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.16416/) (2024)
- [Multilingual Large Language Models: A Systematic Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.11072/) (2024)
- [InstructEdit: Instruction-based Knowledge Editing for Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.16123/) (2024)
- [K-Edit: Language Model Editing with Contextual Knowledge Awareness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.10626/) (2025)
- [Edit Once, Update Everywhere: A Simple Framework for Cross-Lingual Knowledge Synchronization in LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.14645/) (2025)
- [Editing Across Languages: A Survey of Multilingual Knowledge Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.14393/) (2025)
- [An Exploration of Knowledge Editing for Arabic](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.09629/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Large language models are known for encoding a vast amount of factual knowledge, but they often becomes outdated due to the ever-changing nature of external information. A promising solution to this challenge is the utilization of model editing methods to update the knowledge in an efficient manner. However, the majority of existing model editing techniques are limited to monolingual frameworks, thus failing to address the crucial issue of cross-lingual knowledge synchronization for multilingual models. To tackle this problem, we propose a simple yet effective method that trains multilingual patch neuron to store cross-lingual knowledge. It can be easily adapted to existing approaches to enhance their cross-lingual editing capabilities. To evaluate our method, we conduct experiments using both the XNLI dataset and a self-constructed XFEVER dataset. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method achieves improved performance in cross-lingual editing tasks without requiring excessive modifications to the original methodology, thereby showcasing its user-friendly characteristics. Codes will be released soon.