Tracing Recurrent Activity in Cognitive Elements (TRACE): a Model of Temporal Dynamics in a Cell Assembly

The approach emphasizes the psychological functions of activity in a cell assembly, which provides an opportunity to explore the dynamic behavior of the cell assembly considered as a continuous system, an important topic that has not been given sufficient attention.

Abstract

Abstract Hebb's introduction of the cell assembly concept marks the beginning of modern connectionism, yet its implications remain largely unexplored and its potential unexploited. Lately, however, promising efforts have been made to utilize recurrent connections, suggesting the timeliness of a re-examination of the cell assembly as a key element in a cognitive connectionism. Our approach emphasizes the psychological functions of activity in a cell assembly. This provides an opportunity to explore the dynamic behavior of the cell assembly considered as a continuous system, an important topic that we feel has not been given sufficient attention. A step-by-step analysis leads to an identification of characteristic temporal patterns and of necessary control systems. Each step of this analysis leads to a corresponding building block in a set of emerging equations. A series of experiments is then described that explore the implications of the theoretically derived equations in term of the time course of activity generated by a simulation under different conditions. Finally, the model is evaluated in terms of whether the various constraints deemed appropriate can be met, whether the resulting solution is robust, and whether the solution promises sufficient utility and generality. KEYWORDS: Neural networksconnectionismcell assemblyneural fatigueperceptionsimulationpeak activationconsolidation. Notes Tel: 313 764 0426. email: [email protected].