“Genotypes” for neural networks

Neural networks are computational models of nervous systems. However, organisms do not possess only nervous systems and other phenotypic traits but also genetic information stored in the nucleus of their cells (genotype). The nervous system is part of the phenotype which is derived from this genotype through a process called development. The information specified in the genotype determines aspects of the nervous system which are expressed as innate behavioral tendencies and predispositions to learn. When neural networks are viewed in the broader biological context of artificial life, they tend to be accompanied by genotypes and to become members of evolving populations of networks in which genotypes are inherited from parents to offspring.