Remember “PerfectNumber“, the 2022 Polish drama film directed by Krzysztof Zanussi which explores the relationship between faith and rationality? Probably, coming to science, that cinematographic representation could only represent a starting point, without leading to definite conclusions. But it must be said that there are those who have delighted in finding mathematical connections between memory, senses and human intelligence, going so far as to define a real “magic number”. If you want to know it, according to what is reported on Scientific Reportswe tell you: it’s 7.
This is how the scholars of Skoltech AI (Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology), authors of the research, arrived at this conclusion starting from solid mathematical paths that could lead, in the future, to opening new perspectives on our ability to preserve memories. The memory of humans and other living beings is an enigmatic phenomenon linked, among other things, to the properties of consciousness. The study therefore appears to be of great importance. The advancement of theoretical models of memory will help to acquire new knowledge about the human mind and perhaps redefine a memory similar to ours in the structures dedicated to artificial intelligence.
From senses to memory
The work of scholars is truly curious. And it led to the development of a model capable of determining a mathematical link between memory, senses and intelligence. This is how they came to define 7, thanks to this system that explores the functioning of memory. By analyzing this model, they discovered interesting results that could help improve robotic systems, artificial intelligence and the understanding of how the human mind stores information. Because we arrive at defining an ideal number of senses, arriving at defining that the five we know and use may not be sufficient.
In short, although it may seem like science fiction, in the future, humans of the future could develop a sense of radiation or magnetic fields. But we are in the world of theories. What emerges from the research is that every concept stored in memory is characterized in terms of seven characteristics. Not four, five, eight or nine, just to name a few examples. Keeping the 7 in mind, the number of distinct objects retained in memory appears, at least according to the study, maximized.
From engrams to memory
Following a research tradition from the beginning of the last century, scholars have focused their attention on modeling the basic units of memory. That is, on what are called “engrams”. What is it about? Basically we can consider this structure as a scattered set of neurons in different regions of the brain that activate simultaneously. Each engram represents a concept, described through a set of characteristics. For humans, these characteristics correspond to sensory experiences: for example, the concept of a banana includes its appearance, smell, taste, and other sensory qualities.
Engrams evolve over time, becoming clearer or more diffuse depending on how often they are activated by sensory stimuli from the outside world. This process represents how we learn and forget when we interact with our environment. The research, somehow, shows mathematically that engrams in conceptual space tend to evolve towards a steady state. Translated: after a transitional period, a distribution of engrams emerges that is maintained over time. And it is precisely from this observation that the numerical definition comes. The number of distinct engrams stored in memory in the steady state is the maximum for a conceptual space with seven dimensions. Therefore, in perspective, even the senses that store memories should have this numerical entity, at least in terms of the optimal figure hypothesized according to the model.
