A Neuron-Significance-Index-based Self-organization Pruning Algorithm for S-LINN * *Lizhen Dai is the corresponding author of this paper

For constructing a span-lateral inhibition neural network (S-LINN) with optimal architecture and parameters for actual application, an improved self-organizing optimization approach is proposed in this paper to tune the architecture and parameters simultaneously. This self-organization pruning algorithm can prune insignificant hidden neurons automatically through building a modified significance index function to evaluate the significance of hidden neurons. A preprocessing training of the initial network with assumed redundant hidden neurons will be allowed in the tuning process. A subsequent learning after the self-organization pruning process is also implemented to optimize the parameters of pruned network. The proposed self-organizing approach has been tested on nonlinear dynamic system identification benchmark problem. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method has good exploration and exploitation capabilities in terms of searching the optimal structure and parameters for S-LINN.