Neuron-based Multifractal Analysis of Neuron Interaction Dynamics in Large Models
Xiongye Xiao, Heng Ping, Chenyu Zhou, Defu Cao, Yaxing Li, Yizhuo Zhou, Shixuan Li, Nikos Kanakaris, Paul Bogdan
Abstract
In recent years, there has been increasing attention on the capabilities of large-scale models, particularly in handling complex tasks that small-scale models are unable to perform. Notably, large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated "intelligent" abilities such as complex reasoning and abstract language comprehension, reflecting cognitive-like behaviors. However, current research on emergent abilities in large models predominantly focuses on the relationship between model performance and size, leaving a significant gap in the systematic quantitative analysis of the internal structures and mechanisms driving these emergent abilities. Drawing inspiration from neuroscience research on brain network structure and selforganization, we propose (i) a general network representation of large models, (ii) a new analytical framework-Neuron-based Multifractal Analysis (NeuroMFA)-for structural analysis, and (iii) a novel structure-based metric as a proxy for emergent abilities of large models. By linking structural features to the capabilities of large models, NeuroMFA provides a quantitative framework for analyzing emergent phenomena in large models. Our experiments show that the proposed method yields a comprehensive measure of the network's evolving heterogeneity and organization, offering theoretical foundations and a new perspective for investigating emergent abilities in large models.
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Cited by top-tier papers2
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- PaceLLM: Brain-Inspired Large Language Models for Long-Context UnderstandingKangcong Li, Peng Ye, Chongjun Tu, Lin Zhang et al.NeurIPS 2025
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- FlashAttention: Fast and Memory-Efficient Exact Attention with IO-AwarenessTri Dao, Daniel Y. Fu, Stefano Ermon, Atri Rudra et al.NeurIPS 2022 · 5,493 citations
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