Why is our capacity of working memory so large

A neuropysiological correlate of short-term memory has been found in the ability of some prefrontal neurons to hold task relevant information through ongoing neuronal activity. Such experimental findings, and the corresponding hypothesis of the mechanisms that enables the ongoing neuronal activity, have been captured successfully with continuous attractor neural network models. However, the basic model does only support the short-term storage of one item at a time. In this paper it is shown that more items can be stored in the model if the basic model is augmented with physiological plausible stabilization mechanisms. This modified model supports the storage of a few items consistent with the behavioral capacity limits of working memory. Keywords—Working Memory, Capacity, Continuous Attractor Neural Networks