Recursive Dynamics in Fast-Weights Homeostatic Reentry Networks: Toward Reflective Intelligence
This addresses the challenge of reflective intelligence in AI by providing a mechanism for internal recurrence without external looping, linking to theories of cortical reentry and recursive cognition, though it appears incremental as it builds on existing fast-weight architectures.
The study tackled the problem of enabling self-referential computation in neural networks by introducing the Fast-Weights Homeostatic Reentry Layer (FH-RL), which integrates fast-weight memory, homeostatic regularization, and reentrant feedback, resulting in a stable reflective band at gains around 0.10-0.20 where internal feedback is maximally expressive and spectrally stable.
This study introduces the Fast-Weights Homeostatic Reentry Layer (FH-RL), a neural mechanism that integrates fast-weight associative memory, homeostatic regularization, and learned reentrant feedback to approximate self-referential computation in neural networks. Unlike standard transformer architectures that operate in a purely feedforward manner during inference, FH-RL enables internal recurrence without external looping, allowing prior latent states to be dynamically re-entered into the ongoing computation stream. We conduct controlled experiments sweeping the reentry gain $γ$ and evaluate emergent internal dynamics using three novel metrics: the Information Reentry Ratio (IRR), Eigen-Spectrum Recursion Index (ESRI), and Representational Drift Periodicity (RDP). Results show that reentry quantity increases proportionally with~$γ$, while the learned feedback matrix $W_r$ remains bounded and becomes more structured at moderate gains. Critically, a stable reflective band emerges around $γ\approx 0.10-0.20$, where internal feedback is maximally expressive yet spectrally stable: IRR rises smoothly, ESRI remains near zero, and RDP exhibits consistent low-frequency cycles. These findings provide quantitative evidence that reflective, thought-like internal processing can arise from a principled balance between feedback amplification and homeostatic regulation, linking modern fast-weight architectures to theories of cortical reentry and recursive cognition.