Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33353094›Full record

ArticleEntropy (Basel, Switzerland)2020

Examining the Causal Structures of Deep Neural Networks Using Information Theory.

Scythia Marrow, Eric J Michaud, Erik Hoel

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Entropy (Basel, Switzerland), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Quantifying emergent complexity.Patterns (New York, N.Y.) · 2026
    Article
  2. Intrinsic units: identifying a system's causal grain.Neuroscience of consciousness · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Scythia MarrowAllen Discovery Center, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6141-5750
Eric J MichaudDepartment of Mathematics, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7912-1953
Erik HoelAllen Discovery Center, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2970-0057

Funding

Army Research Office 77111-PH-II
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) are often examined at the level of their response to input, such as analyzing the mutual information between nodes and data sets. Yet DNNs can also be examined at the level of causation, exploring "what does what" within the layers of the network itself. Historically, analyzing the causal structure of DNNs has received less attention than understanding their responses to input. Yet definitionally, generalizability must be a function of a DNN's causal structure as it reflects how the DNN responds to unseen or even not-yet-defined future inputs. Here, we introduce a suite of metrics based on information theory to quantify and track changes in the causal structure of DNNs during training. Specifically, we introduce the

Indexed as

artificial neural networkscausationinformation theory

Identifiers

PMID33353094
PMCPMC7766755

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.