CA Description
- CAs were proposed by Hebb in 1949 as a mechanism to explain how
people store concepts.
- It was clear then as now that people use the brain and
the neurons in it to process information.
- It was also clear (then as now) that individual neurons
could not store concepts alone. (E.g. they don't remain active
long enough, and they die)
- Hebb proposed that a concept is composed of a group of neurons
that are tightly connected via high strength synapses.
- While one neuron can't continue to fire for long, a group
can reverberate and fire indefinitely long.
- If one neuron dies (or a host of neurons die), the concept
still remains largely intact.
- People have worked with this CA concept ever since.
- There have been some simple simulations, but not lots and not
very big ones.
- Psychologist, Neurophysiologists, and even Philosophers agree
with CAs.
- There is lots of neural and psychological evidence for mammals
having CAs.
- We have ideas about them, but not a really good understanding.
