Summary of ‘The Persistence and Transience of Memory’

The predominant focus in the neurobiological study of memory has been on remembering (persistence). However, recent studies have considered the neurobiology of forgetting (transience). Here we draw parallels between neurobiological and computational mechanisms underlying transience. We propose that it is the interaction between persistence and transience that allows for intelligent decision-making in dynamic, noisy environments. Specifically, we argue that transience (1) enhances flexibility, by reducing the influence of outdated information on memory-guided decision-making, and (2) prevents overfitting to specific past events, thereby promoting generalization. According to this view, the goal of memory is not the transmission of information through time, per se. Rather, the goal of memory is to optimize decision-making. As such, transience is as important as persistence in mnemonic systems. 

点评

修改完全运用《简洁的原理》（英文版）里提倡的18条基本法则：

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=578721768255

这篇summary初看还可以，细看还是有些问题值得我们去修改提升。

（1）predominant：换成real、main或primary。

（2）consider：用explore更合适。

（3）flexibility：这个词的限定语不明确。是memory的还是decision-making的？后面的generalization也是同样的问题。

（4）overfitting：

牛津词典定义：

Statistics. To produce or represent an analysis which corresponds too closely or exactly to (a particular set of data); to make (a model) fit a particular set of data too precisely. Also without object: to provide too close a fit.

统计学方面的词（有些词典里查不到这个词）。

（5）transmission of information：

名词短语结构是很多文章里的大问题，不是错但冗长抽象惹人烦。

（6）per se：

per se的意思：By or in itself or themselves; intrinsically.

（7）as such：

as such的意思：In the exact sense of the word. 这个词在实际使用中的意思很多时候相当于therefore。

改后（部分地方有调整）

通俗版

The real focus in the study of memory has been on remembering, but recent studies have explored forgetting. We propose that it is the interaction between remembering and forgetting that allows for decision-making. We argue that by reducing the influence of outdated information on decision-making, forgetting (1) enhances memory’s flexibility, and (2) prevents remembering from being too close to specific past events, thereby making it possible to generalize about these events. According to this view, the goal of memory is not to transmit information but to optimize decision-making. Therefore, forgetting is as important as remembering. 

专业版

The real focus in the neurobiological study of memory has been on remembering (persistence), but recent studies have explored the neurobiology of forgetting (transience). Here we draw parallels between neurobiological and computational mechanisms underlying transience. We propose that it is the interaction between persistence and transience that allows for decision-making. We argue that transience, by reducing the influence of outdated information,  (1) enhances flexibility, and (2) prevents memory from being too close to specific past events, thereby making it possible to generalize about these events. According to this view, the goal of memory is not to transmit information, but to optimize decision-making. Therefore, transience is as important as persistence in mnemonic systems.