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Chipping away at memory

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Abstract

Inverse power-law behavior is known to be characteristic of adaptation, learning, and memory. Herein, we propose a phenomenological model of forgetting based on renewal theory that introduces a new psychophysical concept, chipping; discrete events that chip away at chunks of memory and thereby produce forgetting. The neural mechanism producing these chips is the 1/f-noise that is generically produced in complex neuronal networks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. US Army Research Office, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA

    B. J. West

  2. Center for Nonlinear Science, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    P. Grigolini

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  1. B. J. West
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  2. P. Grigolini
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Correspondence to B. J. West.

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West, B.J., Grigolini, P. Chipping away at memory. Biol Cybern 103, 167–174 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-010-0394-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-010-0394-6

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