Relating priming and repetition suppression

We present a prototype of a recently proposed two stage model of the entorhinal-hippocampal loop. Our aim is to form a general computational model of the sensory neocortex. The model--grounded on pure information theoretic principles--accounts for the most characteristic features of long-term memory (LTM), performs bottom-up novelty detection, and supports noise filtering. Noise filtering can also serve to correct the temporal ordering of information processing. Surprisingly, as we examine the temporal characteristics of the model, the emergent dynamics can be interpreted as perceptual priming, a fundamental type of implicit memory. In the model's framework, computational results support the hypothesis of a strong correlation between perceptual priming and repetition suppression and this correlation is a direct consequence of the temporal ordering in forming the LTM. We also argue that our prototype offers a relatively simple and coherent explanation of priming and its relation to a general model of information processing by the brain.