First Passage Time Memory Lifetimes for Simple, Multistate Synapses: Beyond the Eigenvector Requirement

Models of associative memory with discrete-strength synapses are palimpsests, learning new memories by forgetting old ones. Memory lifetimes can be defined by the mean first passage time (MFPT) for a perceptron's activation to fall below firing threshold. By imposing the condition that the vector of possible strengths available to a synapse is a left eigenvector of the stochastic matrix governing transitions in strength, we previously derived results for MFPTs and first passage time (FPT) distributions in models with simple, multistate synapses. This condition permits jump moments to be computed via a 1-dimensional Fokker-Planck approach. Here, we study memory lifetimes in the absence of this condition. To do so, we must introduce additional variables, including the perceptron activation, that parameterize synaptic configurations, permitting Markovian dynamics in these variables to be formulated. FPT problems in these variables require solving multidimensional partial differential or integral equations. However, the FPT dynamics can be analytically well approximated by focusing on the slowest eigenmode in this higher-dimensional space. We may also obtain a much better approximation by restricting to the two dominant variables in this space, the restriction making numerical methods tractable. Analytical and numerical methods are in excellent agreement with simulation data, validating our methods. These methods prepare the ground for the study of FPT memory lifetimes with complex rather than simple, multistate synapses.