Model of encoding time intervals by active agents
- Authors: Zhilyakova L.Y.1, Bazenkov N.I.1
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Affiliations:
- V.A. Trapeznikov Institute of Control Sciences of RAS
- Issue: No 117 (2025)
- Pages: 265-285
- Section: Networking in control sciences
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/1819-2440/article/view/360567
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.25728/ubs.2025.117.13
- ID: 360567
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Abstract
Interval time coding, i.e. the ability to perceive and estimate duration in the range from seconds to minutes, is one of the key cognitive processes underlying the adaptive behavior of biological species. This ability allows individuals to extract temporal patterns from the environment, optimize resource extraction strategies, coordinate communication, and form forecasts about future events. The paper describes a model of an active agent with an internal structure represented by an ensemble capable of generating rhythmic activity in given time intervals. The ensemble consists of three nodes: a half-center oscillator (two nodes exciting each other in antiphase) and a trigger node with memory. The half-center oscillator excites a trigger that accumulates excitation in memory. When excitation reaches a threshold value, the trigger is activated and, thus, transmits a signal to the agent. The trigger activation frequency depends on its parameters: receptor weights, discount coefficient, threshold value. The proposed model of temporal coding by such agents demonstrates properties inherent in biological systems: compliance with Weber's law (direct dependence of the variation of the estimate on the duration of the signal), memory fading in the absence of a stimulus, a return to homeostatic parameters, and a shift in estimates to average values. Research in the field of biologically inspired interval coding not only deepens our understanding of time perception, evaluation, and prediction, but also stimulates the development of adaptive AI systems, robotics, and human-machine interfaces.
About the authors
Liudmila Yur'evna Zhilyakova
V.A. Trapeznikov Institute of Control Sciences of RAS
Email: zhilyakova@ipu.ru
Moscow
Nikolay Il'ich Bazenkov
V.A. Trapeznikov Institute of Control Sciences of RAS
Email: bazenkov@ipu.ru
Moscow
References
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