Neurodynamics of mental exploration
Contributed by J. J. Hopfield, December 4, 2009 (sent for review October 15, 2009)
Abstract
Thinking allows an animal to take an effective action in a novel situation based on a mental exploration of possibilities and previous knowledge. We describe a model animal, with a neural system based loosely on the rodent hippocampus, which performs mental exploration to find a useful route in a spatial world it has previously learned. It then mentally recapitulates the chosen route, and this intent is converted to motor acts that move the animal physically along the route. The modeling is based on spiking neurons with spike-frequency adaptation. Adaptation causes the continuing evolution in the pattern of neural activity that is essential to mental exploration. A successful mental exploration is remembered through spike-timing-dependent synaptic plasticity. The system is also an episodic memory for an animal chiefly concerned with locations.
Acknowledgments
I thank A.V. Herz, S. Leibler, and C.D. Brody for comments on the manuscript.
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Published online: December 30, 2009
Published in issue: January 26, 2010
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Acknowledgments
I thank A.V. Herz, S. Leibler, and C.D. Brody for comments on the manuscript.
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The author declares no conflict of interest.
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