HippocamPEX: A Hippocampus-Inspired In-Silico Architecture for Context-Aware Sequence Prediction

Abstract

The brain's hippocampus enables episodic memory - the ability to encode events within their context, organize them into sequences, and generate predictive representations to guide adaptive behavior. Modern computing architectures, however, are optimized for large-scale arithmetic and struggle with such context-dependent sequential prediction or "cognitive" tasks. To translate these capabilities into a mixed-signal architecture, we first derived a working model from the neuroscience literature distilling key hippocampal computations into engineering-friendly abstractions. We then leveraged converging advances in in-memory computing, neuromorphic computing, asynchronous circuits, and analog computing to design a mixed-signal hardware architecture implementing these computations, called HippocamPEX. Finally, we demonstrated that HippocamPEX reproduces characteristic representational dynamics of hippocampal subregions and performs robust context-specific sequence prediction through detailed activity and circuit simulations. By tightly coupling hardware design with neuroscience knowledge, this work establishes a pathway for artificial systems capable of rapid, adaptive, and context-aware decision-making, addressing a central gap between biological and conventional computing.

arXiv comment6 figures