Neuromorphic implementation of attractor dynamics in decision circuit with NMDARs

摘要

Emulation of decision making in neuromorphic system can be useful for developing remarkable bio-mimetic devices capable of implementing adaptive and interactive behaviors with the varying environment. Both experimental and theoretical studies reveal that the dynamics of NMDA receptors (NMDARs) plays a critical role in attractor dynamics of decision. However, the functionality of NMDARs has not been considered in current neuromorphic decision circuit. Here we present a novel method for the neuromorphic implementation of a two-variable decision circuit with NMDARs. Circuit simulations and theoretical analysis reveal that the decision circuit can present not only the winner-take-all mechanism but also the slow integration of sensory evidences, both of which are embedded in gradually ramp-up activities observed in our simulations and in the electrophysiological recording in monkey's experiments. We demonstrated that the decision circuit we built can generate reliable attractor dynamics capable of reproducing both neurophysiological and behavioral observations during decision tasks.