How The Brain Learns

For the last 70 years a core hypothesis of neuroscience has been that brain learning occurs by modifying the strength of the synapses, following the relative firing activity of connecting neurons.

This hypothesis has been the basis for machine and deep learning algorithms which increasingly affect most of all our lives. After decades, this long-lasting hypothesis has now been called into question.

In an article published today in Scientific Reports, researchers from Bar-Ilan University in Israel reveal that the brain learns completely differently than has been assumed since the 20th century.