Cellular dynamics of network memory

Abstract

One example of 'emergence' is the development, as a result of neural ontogeny and living experience, of cortical networks capable of representing and retaining cognitive information. A large body of evidence from neuropsychology, electrophysiology and neuroimaging indicates that so-called working memory and long-term memory share the same neural substrate in the cerebral cortex. That substrate consists in a system of widespread, overlapping and hierarchically organized networks of cortical neurons. In this system, any neuron or group of neurons can be part of many networks, and thus many memories. Working memory is the temporary activation of one such network of long-term memory for the purpose of executing an action in the near future. The activation of the network may be brought about by stimuli that by virtue of prior experience are in some manner associated with the cognitive content of the network, including the response of the organism to those stimuli. The mechanisms by which the network stays activated are presumed to include the recurrent re-entry of impulses through associated neuronal assemblies of the network. Consistent with this notion is the following evidence: (1) working memory depends on the functional integrity of cortico-cortical connective loops; and (2) during working memory, remarkable similarities - including 'attractor behavior' - have been observed between firing patterns in real cortex and in an artificial recurrent network.