Layer wise Scaled Gaussian Priors for Markov Chain Monte Carlo Sampled deep Bayesian neural networks

Previous work has demonstrated that initialization is very important for both fitting a neural network by gradient descent methods, as well as for Variational inference of Bayesian neural networks. In this work we investigate how Layer wise Scaled Gaussian Priors perform with Markov Chain Monte Carl...

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Main Authors: Devesh Jawla, John Kelleher
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-04-01
Series:Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frai.2025.1444891/full
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author Devesh Jawla
John Kelleher
author_facet Devesh Jawla
John Kelleher
author_sort Devesh Jawla
collection DOAJ
description Previous work has demonstrated that initialization is very important for both fitting a neural network by gradient descent methods, as well as for Variational inference of Bayesian neural networks. In this work we investigate how Layer wise Scaled Gaussian Priors perform with Markov Chain Monte Carlo trained Bayesian neural networks. From our experiments on 8 classifications datasets of various complexity, the results indicate that using Layer wise Scaled Gaussian Priors makes the sampling process more efficient as compared to using an Isotropic Gaussian Prior, an Isotropic Cauchy Prior, or an Isotropic Laplace Prior. We also show that the cold posterior effect does not arise when using a either an Isotropic Gaussian or a layer wise Scaled Prior for small feed forward Bayesian neural networks. Since Bayesian neural networks are becoming popular due to their advantages such as uncertainty estimation, and prevention of over-fitting, this work seeks to provide improvements in the efficiency of Bayesian neural networks learned using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods.
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publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
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spelling doaj-art-e66be50db0b849c38b10f52ebbc1f3192025-08-20T02:28:11ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence2624-82122025-04-01810.3389/frai.2025.14448911444891Layer wise Scaled Gaussian Priors for Markov Chain Monte Carlo Sampled deep Bayesian neural networksDevesh Jawla0John Kelleher1School of Computer Science, Technological University Dublin, Dublin, IrelandADAPT Research Centre, School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, IrelandPrevious work has demonstrated that initialization is very important for both fitting a neural network by gradient descent methods, as well as for Variational inference of Bayesian neural networks. In this work we investigate how Layer wise Scaled Gaussian Priors perform with Markov Chain Monte Carlo trained Bayesian neural networks. From our experiments on 8 classifications datasets of various complexity, the results indicate that using Layer wise Scaled Gaussian Priors makes the sampling process more efficient as compared to using an Isotropic Gaussian Prior, an Isotropic Cauchy Prior, or an Isotropic Laplace Prior. We also show that the cold posterior effect does not arise when using a either an Isotropic Gaussian or a layer wise Scaled Prior for small feed forward Bayesian neural networks. Since Bayesian neural networks are becoming popular due to their advantages such as uncertainty estimation, and prevention of over-fitting, this work seeks to provide improvements in the efficiency of Bayesian neural networks learned using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frai.2025.1444891/fullBayesian neural network (BNN)Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)deep learning artificial intelligenceneural networkBayesian inference (BI)
spellingShingle Devesh Jawla
John Kelleher
Layer wise Scaled Gaussian Priors for Markov Chain Monte Carlo Sampled deep Bayesian neural networks
Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence
Bayesian neural network (BNN)
Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)
deep learning artificial intelligence
neural network
Bayesian inference (BI)
title Layer wise Scaled Gaussian Priors for Markov Chain Monte Carlo Sampled deep Bayesian neural networks
title_full Layer wise Scaled Gaussian Priors for Markov Chain Monte Carlo Sampled deep Bayesian neural networks
title_fullStr Layer wise Scaled Gaussian Priors for Markov Chain Monte Carlo Sampled deep Bayesian neural networks
title_full_unstemmed Layer wise Scaled Gaussian Priors for Markov Chain Monte Carlo Sampled deep Bayesian neural networks
title_short Layer wise Scaled Gaussian Priors for Markov Chain Monte Carlo Sampled deep Bayesian neural networks
title_sort layer wise scaled gaussian priors for markov chain monte carlo sampled deep bayesian neural networks
topic Bayesian neural network (BNN)
Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)
deep learning artificial intelligence
neural network
Bayesian inference (BI)
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frai.2025.1444891/full
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AT johnkelleher layerwisescaledgaussianpriorsformarkovchainmontecarlosampleddeepbayesianneuralnetworks