Memory, modelling and Marr: A commentary on Marr (1971) ‘Simple memory: A theory of archicortex’

Abstract

David Marr’s theory of the archicortex, a brain structure now more commonly known as the hippocampus and hippocampal formation, is an epochal contribution to theoretical neuroscience. Addressing the problem of how information about 10 000 events could be stored in the archicortex during the day so that they can be retrieved using partial information and then transferred to the neocortex overnight, the paper presages a whole wealth of later empirical and theoretical work, proving impressively prescient. Despite this impending success, Marr later apparently grew dissatisfied with this style of modelling, but he went on to make seminal suggestions that continue to resonate loudly throughout the field of theoretical neuroscience. We describe Marr’s theory of the archicortex and his theory of theories, setting them into their original and a contemporary context, and assessing their impact. This commentary was written to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.