Abstract
We investigate a model in which excitatory neurons have dynamical thresholds which display both fatigue and potentiation. The fatigue property leads to oscillatory behavior. It is responsible for the ability of the model to perform segmentation, i.e., decompose a mixed input into staggered oscillations of the activities of the cell-assemblies (memories) affected by it. Potentiation is responsible for sustaining these staggered oscillations after the input is turned off, i.e. the system serves as a model for short term memory. It has a limited STM capacity, reminiscent of the magical number 7 6 2. 1 Introduction The limited capacity (7 6 2) of the short term memory (STM) has been a subject of major interest in the psychological and physiological literature. It seems quite natural to assume that the limited capacity is due to the special dynamical nature of STM. Recently, Crick and Koch (1990) suggested that the working memory is functionally related to the binding process, and...
Keywords
Long-term potentiationExcitatory postsynaptic potentialTerm (time)Computer scienceShort-term memoryProperty (philosophy)NeurosciencePhysicsBiological systemControl theory (sociology)Topology (electrical circuits)Artificial intelligenceWorking memoryPsychologyEngineeringChemistryControl (management)Electrical engineeringBiologyCognition
Affiliated Institutions
Related Publications
The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity
Miller (1956) summarized evidence that people can remember about seven chunks in short-term memory (STM) tasks. However, that number was meant more as a rough estimate and a rhe...
The Magical Mystery Four
Working memory storage capacity is important because cognitive tasks can be completed only with sufficient ability to hold information as it is processed. The ability to repeat ...
Long‐lasting potentiation of synaptic transmission in the dentate area of the anaesthetized rabbit following stimulation of the perforant path
1. The after‐effects of repetitive stimulation of the perforant path fibres to the dentate area of the hippocampal formation have been examined with extracellular micro‐electrod...
Cognitive Architecture and Instructional Design: 20 Years Later
Cognitive load theory was introduced in the 1980s as an instructional design theory based on several uncontroversial aspects of human cognitive architecture. Our knowledge of ma...
Components of Visual Memory
Visual recognition memory for a sequence of non-verbalized patterns is shown to have a large and clearly defined recency effect. This recency effect occurs with random list leng...
Publication Info
- Year
- 1991
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 4
- Pages
- 125-132
- Citations
- 22
- Access
- Closed
External Links
Citation Metrics
22
OpenAlex
Cite This
D. Horn,
Marius Usher
(1991).
Oscillatory Model of Short Term Memory.
, 4
, 125-132.