GATE: Adaptive Learning with Working Memory by Information Gating in Multi-lamellar Hippocampal Formation
This work addresses the challenge of understanding and replicating brain-inspired memory mechanisms for advancing intelligent systems, but it appears incremental as it builds on existing hippocampal models.
The authors tackled the problem of modeling hippocampal formation's rapid adaptation and flexible working memory by proposing the GATE model, which uses a 3-D multi-lamellar architecture to learn internal representations and achieves alignment with experimental neural recordings like splitter and place cells.
Hippocampal formation (HF) can rapidly adapt to varied environments and build flexible working memory (WM). To mirror the HF's mechanism on generalization and WM, we propose a model named Generalization and Associative Temporary Encoding (GATE), which deploys a 3-D multi-lamellar dorsoventral (DV) architecture, and learns to build up internally representation from externally driven information layer-wisely. In each lamella, regions of HF: EC3-CA1-EC5-EC3 forms a re-entrant loop that discriminately maintains information by EC3 persistent activity, and selectively readouts the retained information by CA1 neurons. CA3 and EC5 further provides gating function that controls these processes. After learning complex WM tasks, GATE forms neuron representations that align with experimental records, including splitter, lap, evidence, trace, delay-active cells, as well as conventional place cells. Crucially, DV architecture in GATE also captures information, range from detailed to abstract, which enables a rapid generalization ability when cue, environment or task changes, with learned representations inherited. GATE promises a viable framework for understanding the HF's flexible memory mechanisms and for progressively developing brain-inspired intelligent systems.