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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=PL link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>Memetics and Neural Models of Conspiracy Theories<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>Conspiracy theories, or in general seriously distorted beliefs, are widespread. How and why are they formed in the brain is still more a matter of speculation rather than science. In this paper one plausible mechanisms is investigated: rapid freezing of high neuroplasticity (RFHN). Emotional arousal increases neuroplasticity and leads to creation of new pathways spreading neural activation. Using the language of neurodynamics a meme is defined as quasi-stable associative memory attractor state. Depending on the temporal characteristics of the incoming information and the plasticity of the network, memory may self-organize creating memes with large attractor basins, linking many unrelated input patterns. Memes with fake rich associations distort relations between memory states. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>Simulations of various neural network models trained with competitive Hebbian learning (CHL) on stationary and non-stationary data lead to the same conclusion: short learning with high plasticity followed by rapid decrease of plasticity leads to memes with large attraction basins, distorting input pattern representations in associative memory. Such system-level models may be used to understand creation of distorted beliefs and formation of conspiracy memes, understood as strong attractor states of the neurodynamics.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1508.04561">http://arxiv.org/abs/1508.04561</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>Regards, </span><span style='mso-fareast-language:PL'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:PL'>Włodzisław Duch <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:PL'>____________________<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D;background:#F0E98A;mso-fareast-language:PL'><a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=W.+Duch"><span style='color:blue'>Google W. Duch</span></a></span><span style='color:#1F497D;background:#F0E98A;mso-fareast-language:PL'> </span><span style='color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:PL'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>