CAs for Priming
- CAs also provide an explanation for Priming
- A primed CA can ignite faster because neurons in it have more
activation, and neurons in it are already firing.
- neurons in the CA have activation
- The leaky integrator model allows neurons to have activation
without firing.
- An adjacent CA (or direct envrionmental stimuli) sends activation to
other CAs.
- The activation is below firing threshold so the neuron doesn't fire
- The activation slowly leaks away but still remains for many seconds
- The neuron (and thus the CA it is a member of) is primed because it
will fire more easily.
- neurons in the CA are firing
- External activation has caused some neurons in the primed CA to fire
- Indeed, neurons can participate in multiple CAs, so the neurons may
already be firing due to the priming CA
- However, there are not enough neurons in the primed CA firing to
cause CA ignition.
- Consequently, the CA is primed, but not active
- One priming experiment would require CAs to be associated. Activation of
an associated CA should prime other CAs enabling them to ignite more quickly
- In another priming experiment, a CA could be activated below ignition, and
then given additional activation to make it ignite. Again, this should
happen more quickly
