  Learning based on networks of real neurons, and by extension biologically
inspired models of neural networks, has yet to find general learning rules
leading to widespread applications. In this paper, we argue for the existence
of a principle allowing to steer the dynamics of a biologically inspired neural
network. Using carefully timed external stimulation, the network can be driven
towards a desired dynamical state. We term this principle "Learning by
Stimulation Avoidance" (LSA). We demonstrate through simulation that the
minimal sufficient conditions leading to LSA in artificial networks are also
sufficient to reproduce learning results similar to those obtained in
biological neurons by Shahaf and Marom [1]. We examine the mechanism's basic
dynamics in a reduced network, and demonstrate how it scales up to a network of
100 neurons. We show that LSA has a higher explanatory power than existing
hypotheses about the response of biological neural networks to external
simulation, and can be used as a learning rule for an embodied application:
learning of wall avoidance by a simulated robot. The surge in popularity of
artificial neural networks is mostly directed to disembodied models of neurons
with biologically irrelevant dynamics: to the authors' knowledge, this is the
first work demonstrating sensory-motor learning with random spiking networks
through pure Hebbian learning.
