Sparse distributed memory: understanding the speed and robustness of expert memory

Abstract

How can experts, sometimes in exacting detail, almost immediately and very precisely recall memory items from a vast repertoire? The problem in which we will be interested concerns models of theoretical neuroscience that could explain the speed and robustness of an expert's recollection. The approach is based on Sparse Distributed Memory, which has been shown to be plausible, both in a neuroscientific and in a psychological manner, in a number of ways. A crucial characteristic concerns the limits of human recollection, the “tip-of-tongue” memory event—which is found at a non-linearity in the model. We expand the theoretical framework, deriving an optimization formula to solve this non-linearity. Numerical results demonstrate how the higher frequency of rehearsal, through work or study, immediately increases the robustness and speed associated with expert memory.

Integer Sparse Distributed Memory Based on Neural Coding

“…A hard location contains an address vector in matrix A and an integer vector in matrix C. When writing or reading data, a set of hard locations within a activation radius r are activated after comparing the hamming distance between the input address x and each hard location address. When matrix A holds a uniform random sample of address space, the binomial distribution with parameter N can be used to find the activation radius r that corresponds to a given probability p of activating hard locations, according to Equation 3, from [11],…”

Editorial: Neural implementation of expertise

“…Finally, a number of articles provide either new theoretical ideas or revisions of already established theories. Campitelli and Speelman ( 2013 ) highlight the advantages of using the expertise paradigm in investigating memory, while Brogliato et al ( 2014 ) expand the Sparse Distributed Memory (SDM) model to incorporate the effects of practice on memory retrieval. Guida et al ( 2013 ) extend their two-stage framework of skill acquisition (Guida et al, 2012 ) by arguing for the functional cerebral reorganization (FCR) as being the neural signature of expertise.…”