New biological memory model exposes limits of binary code in AI

Their theory, called the Tripartite Mechanism of Memory, proposes that three biological components, not binary switches, generate genuine memory. Unlike a silicon chip storing information as binary states, the model says memory arises through the interaction of brain cells, particularly astrocytes with neurons, the molecular environment surrounding those cells, and specific chemicals such as metal ions, neurotransmitters, and gliotransmitters circulating through living brain tissue.

The researchers suggest that living brains do more than transmit electrical signals between neurons; they may also write and read certain kinds of information chemically, a process with no clear equivalent inside a silicon processor. Astrocytes, abundant brain cells that interact closely with neurons, occupy a particularly important place in this model. Marx and Gilon propose that clusters of astrocytes participate in processing cognitive information alongside neurons and the surrounding cellular environment.

A central part of their argument is that biological memories are never simply pieces of stored logical information. They carry an emotional dimension that no binary code stored in a computer's memory bank can replicate. The model treats chemical messengers, including neurotransmitters, as essential parts of the mechanism by which cognitive information becomes fully encoded.

The distinction grows increasingly relevant as AI systems become more capable of tasks tied to human logical reasoning. The paper challenges the assumption that greater computational power and complexity alone would necessarily produce biological-like consciousness in machines. The researchers argue that purely electronic systems lack the biological infrastructure and emotional processes characteristic of living organisms. Their argument is not that AI cannot perform increasingly sophisticated intellectual tasks, but rather raises a more fundamental question about whether intelligent behaviour equals the biological processes producing memory, emotion, and thought.