TY - UNPB
T1 - Aligning brain activity with advanced transformer models
T2 - exploring the role of punctuation in semantic processing
AU - Lamprou, Zenon
AU - Pollick, Frank
AU - Moshfeghi, Yashar
PY - 2025/1/16
Y1 - 2025/1/16
N2 - This research examines the congruence between neural activity and advanced transformer models, emphasizing the semantic significance of punctuation in text understanding. Utilizing an innovative approach originally proposed by Toneva and Wehbe, we evaluate four advanced transformer models RoBERTa, DistiliBERT, ALBERT, and ELECTRA against neural activity data. Our findings indicate that RoBERTa exhibits the closest alignment with neural activity, surpassing BERT in accuracy. Furthermore, we investigate the impact of punctuation removal on model performance and neural alignment, revealing that BERT's accuracy enhances in the absence of punctuation. This study contributes to the comprehension of how neural networks represent language and the influence of punctuation on semantic processing within the human brain.
AB - This research examines the congruence between neural activity and advanced transformer models, emphasizing the semantic significance of punctuation in text understanding. Utilizing an innovative approach originally proposed by Toneva and Wehbe, we evaluate four advanced transformer models RoBERTa, DistiliBERT, ALBERT, and ELECTRA against neural activity data. Our findings indicate that RoBERTa exhibits the closest alignment with neural activity, surpassing BERT in accuracy. Furthermore, we investigate the impact of punctuation removal on model performance and neural alignment, revealing that BERT's accuracy enhances in the absence of punctuation. This study contributes to the comprehension of how neural networks represent language and the influence of punctuation on semantic processing within the human brain.
KW - neural activity
KW - advanced transformer models
KW - semantic processing
U2 - 10.48550/arXiv.2501.06278
DO - 10.48550/arXiv.2501.06278
M3 - Working Paper/Preprint
BT - Aligning brain activity with advanced transformer models
CY - Ithaca, NY
ER -