Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

We address the question of memory maintenance in a neuronal system whose synapses undergo continuous metabolic turnover. Our solution is based on neuronal regulation mechanisms. We develop this concept and demonstrate it within the framework of a neural model of associative memory. It operates in conjunction with random activation of the memory system, and is able to counterbalance degradation of synaptic weights, and to normalize the basins of attraction of all memories. Over long time periods, when the variance of the degradation process becomes important, synapses are no longer maintained at their original values. Nonetheless, memories can be maintained provided there exist appropriate bounds on synaptic growth. The remnant memory system is obtained by a dynamic process of synaptic selection and growth driven by neuronal regulatory mechanisms.