Summary

Attention and memory are considered the bedrock of intellectual function. Further, disruptions of attention and memory are a core characteristic of many human disorders. However, neither attention nor memory are unitary constructs and little is known about the relation between them. Understanding how the human brain gives rise to such complex cognitive processes remains one of our biggest challenges, and modeling can be a useful tool in that pursuit. Simple models composed of neurons with physiologically plausible properties (such as those widely observed in the brain) can provide insight into (a) the meaning of these physiological properties, (b) how specific mechanisms may relate to behaviors such as attention and memory, (c) how lesions of the same network can result in either attention and memory correlations (similarities) or lack of correlations (differences), and finally (d) how such instantiations can impact the understanding of how attention and memory are represented and related in the brain. Most importantly, models can be helpful in making predictions and suggesting new ways to impact and the improve treatment of human disorders of attention and memory.