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The molecular memory code and synaptic plasticity: a synthesis

The most widely accepted view of memory in the brain holds that synapses are the storage sites of memory, and that memories are formed through associative modification of synapses. This view has been challenged on conceptual and empirical grounds. As an alternative, it has been proposed that molecules within the cell body are the storage sites of memory, and that memories are formed through biochemical operations on these molecules. This paper proposes a synthesis of these two views, grounded in a computational theory of memory. Synapses are conceived as storage sites for the parameters of an approximate posterior probability distribution over latent causes. Intracellular molecules are conceived as storage sites for the parameters of a generative model. The theory stipulates how these two components work together as part of an integrated algorithm for learning and inference.