ABSTRACT
Segmentation and binding are cognitive operations that underlie the process of perception. They can be understood as taking place in the temporal domain, that is, relying on features like simultaneity of neuronal firing. We demonstrate them in a system of oscillatory networks, consisting of Hebbian cell assemblies of excitatory neurons and inhibitory interneurons in which the oscillations are implemented by dynamical thresholds. We emphasize the importance of fluctuating input signals in producing binding and in enabling segmentation of a large set of common inputs. Segmentation properties can be studied by investigating the cyclic attractors of a neural system. Employing this method we show that for constant inputs full segmentation is limited to a small set of excited memories; however, fluctuating inputs can lead to approximate segmentation of a large set of memories.
