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Functional model of biological neural networks

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An Erratum to this article was published on 11 September 2010

Abstract

A functional model of biological neural networks, called temporal hierarchical probabilistic associative memory (THPAM), is proposed in this paper. THPAM comprises functional models of dendritic trees for encoding inputs to neurons, a first type of neuron for generating spike trains, a second type of neuron for generating graded signals to modulate neurons of the first type, supervised and unsupervised Hebbian learning mechanisms for easy learning and retrieving, an arrangement of dendritic trees for maximizing generalization, hardwiring for rotation-translation-scaling invariance, and feedback connections with different delay durations for neurons to make full use of present and past informations generated by neurons in the same and higher layers. These functional models and their processing operations have many functions of biological neural networks that have not been achieved by other models in the open literature and provide logically coherent answers to many long-standing neuroscientific questions. However, biological justifications of these functional models and their processing operations are required for THPAM to qualify as a macroscopic model (or low-order approximate) of biological neural networks.

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Abbreviations

ECM:

Expanded correlation matrix

FSI:

Feature subvector index

GECM:

General expanded correlation matrix

GOE:

General orthogonal expansion

NXOR:

Not-exclusive-or

OE:

Orthogonal expansion

PU:

Processing unit

PU(n):

Processing unit on feature subvector index n

RTS:

Rotation, translation and scaling

SPD:

Subjective probability distribution

THPAM:

Temporal hierarchical probabilistic associative memory

XOR:

Exclusive-or

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, 21250, USA

    James Ting-Ho Lo

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  1. James Ting-Ho Lo
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Correspondence to James Ting-Ho Lo.

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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11571-010-9127-8

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Lo, J.TH. Functional model of biological neural networks. Cogn Neurodyn 4, 295–313 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11571-010-9110-4

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