A genetic algorithm for self-supervised models of oscillatory neurodynamics.

Abstract

Predictive processing theories propose that the brain builds internal models of its environment by reducing the discrepancy between internally generated predictions and external sensory signals. Prior work has linked these processes to oscillatory activity in gamma (40-100 Hz) and alpha/beta (10-30 Hz) frequency ranges. Current computational approaches face a trade-off: abstract predictive-processing models can implement self-supervised computations but often omit oscillatory spiking dynamics, whereas biophysically constrained spiking models can generate neural rhythms but often require extensive manual tuning. Here, we introduce the Genetic Stochastic Delta Rule (GSDR), an evolutionary optimization framework for fitting nonlinear neural models to electrophysiological objectives. We first evaluate GSDR in simplified optimization settings, then apply it to spiking-network objectives involving firing rates, beta/gamma spectral ratios, and empirical macaque stimulus-evoked gamma dynamics from visual cortex. We show that GSDR can search constrained synaptic parameter spaces, reduce reliance on manual tuning, and reproduce spectral and circuit-level phenotypes associated with predictive routing. We also used Izhikevich simulations as a model-class robustness analysis, showing that the approach is not limited to the original Hodgkin-Huxley-style implementation. These results position GSDR as a methodological framework for automated, multi-objective exploration of oscillatory neural models, with predictive routing serving as a motivating case study rather than as a completed functional proof.