A genetic algorithm to obtain the optimal recurrent neural network

Selecting the optimal topology of a neural network for a particular application is a difficult task. In the case of recurrent neural networks, mast methods only induce topologies in which their neurons are fully connected. In this paper, we present a genetic algorithm capable of obtaining not only the optimal topology of a recurrent neural network but also the least number of connections necessary. Finally, this genetic algorithm is applied to a problem of grammatical inference using neural networks, with very good results. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.