Short-Term Facilitation may Stabilize Parametric Working Memory Trace. 2011

Vladimir Itskov, and David Hansel, and Misha Tsodyks
Department of Mathematics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE, USA.

Networks with continuous set of attractors are considered to be a paradigmatic model for parametric working memory (WM), but require fine tuning of connections and are thus structurally unstable. Here we analyzed the network with ring attractor, where connections are not perfectly tuned and the activity state therefore drifts in the absence of the stabilizing stimulus. We derive an analytical expression for the drift dynamics and conclude that the network cannot function as WM for a period of several seconds, a typical delay time in monkey memory experiments. We propose that short-term synaptic facilitation in recurrent connections significantly improves the robustness of the model by slowing down the drift of activity bump. Extending the calculation of the drift velocity to network with synaptic facilitation, we conclude that facilitation can slow down the drift by a large factor, rendering the network suitable as a model of WM.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries

Related Publications

Vladimir Itskov, and David Hansel, and Misha Tsodyks
January 2001, Memory & cognition,
Vladimir Itskov, and David Hansel, and Misha Tsodyks
October 1998, Neuropeptides,
Vladimir Itskov, and David Hansel, and Misha Tsodyks
December 1984, Perception & psychophysics,
Vladimir Itskov, and David Hansel, and Misha Tsodyks
October 1973, Physiology & behavior,
Vladimir Itskov, and David Hansel, and Misha Tsodyks
January 2013, Frontiers in psychology,
Vladimir Itskov, and David Hansel, and Misha Tsodyks
January 2016, Psychological research,
Vladimir Itskov, and David Hansel, and Misha Tsodyks
June 2017, Nature reviews. Neuroscience,
Vladimir Itskov, and David Hansel, and Misha Tsodyks
February 1968, Journal of experimental psychology,
Vladimir Itskov, and David Hansel, and Misha Tsodyks
January 1975, Memory & cognition,
Vladimir Itskov, and David Hansel, and Misha Tsodyks
October 2006, Memory (Hove, England),
Copied contents to your clipboard!