Bick C, Rabinovich MI. Dynamical origin of the effective storage capacity in the brain's working memory.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2009;
103:218101. [PMID:
20366069 DOI:
10.1103/physrevlett.103.218101]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2009] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
The capacity of working memory (WM), a short-term buffer for information in the brain, is limited. We suggest a model for sequential WM that is based upon winnerless competition amongst representations of available informational items. Analytical results for the underlying mathematical model relate WM capacity and relative lateral inhibition in the corresponding neural network. This implies an upper bound for WM capacity, which is, under reasonable neurobiological assumptions, close to the "magical number seven."
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