MorphSNN: Adaptive Graph Diffusion and Structural Plasticity for Spiking Neural Networks

TL;DR

MorphSNN introduces biologically inspired graph diffusion and structural plasticity mechanisms to enable dynamic topological reorganization in spiking neural networks, enhancing adaptability, accuracy, and out-of-distribution detection capabilities.

Contribution

It presents MorphSNN, a novel framework combining graph diffusion and structural plasticity to improve the flexibility and performance of spiking neural networks.

Findings

Achieves 83.35% accuracy on N-Caltech101 with 5 timesteps

Enables superior out-of-distribution detection without extra training

Outperforms existing methods on static and neuromorphic datasets

Abstract

Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) currently face a critical bottleneck: while individual neurons exhibit dynamic biological properties, their macro-scopic architectures remain confined within conventional connectivity patterns that are static and hierarchical. This discrepancy between neuron-level dynamics and network-level fixed connectivity eliminates critical brain-like lateral interactions, limiting adaptability in changing environments. To address this, we propose MorphSNN, a backbone framework inspired by biological non-synaptic diffusion and structural plasticity. Specifically, we introduce a Graph Diffusion (GD)mechanism to facilitate efficient undirected signal propagation, complementing the feedforward hierarchy. Furthermore, it incorporates a Spatio-Temporal Structural Plasticity (STSP) mechanism, endowing the network with the capability for instance-specific, dynamic topological reorganization, thereby overcoming the limitations of fixed topologies. Experiments demonstrate that MorphSNN achieves state-of-the-art accuracy on static and neuromorphic datasets; for instance, it reaches 83.35% accuracy on N-Caltech101 with only 5 timesteps. More importantly, its self-evolving topology functions as an intrinsic distribution fingerprint, enabling superior Out-of- Distribution (OOD) detection without auxiliary training. The code is available at anonymous.4open.science/r/MorphSNN-B0BC.