# Continual Competitive Memory: A Neural System for Online Task-Free Lifelong Learning

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2106.13300 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.13300/

## Key facts

- Cited by 8 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 10 of its 45 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 24 Jun 2021.

## Builds on (most cited first, 10 of 10)

- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [Overcoming catastrophic forgetting in neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.00796/) (2016)
- [iCaRL: Incremental Classifier and Representation Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.07725/) (2016)
- [Gradient Episodic Memory for Continual Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.08840/) (2017)
- [Progressive Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.04671/) (2016)
- [Three scenarios for continual learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.07734/) (2019)
- [Selfless Sequential Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.05421/) (2018)
- [Continual Learning of Recurrent Neural Networks by Locally Aligning Distributed Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.07411/) (2018)
- [Lifelong Neural Predictive Coding: Learning Cumulatively Online without Forgetting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.10696/) (2019)
- [A Fast Incremental Gaussian Mixture Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1506.04422/) (2015)

## Built on by (most cited first, 8 of 8)

- [Brain-inspired Computational Intelligence via Predictive Coding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.07870/) (2023)
- [Brain-Inspired Machine Intelligence: A Survey of Neurobiologically-Plausible Credit Assignment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.09257/) (2023)
- [Continual Learning of Dynamical Systems with Competitive Federated Reservoir Computing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.13336/) (2022)
- [Reducing Catastrophic Forgetting in Self Organizing Maps with Internally-Induced Generative Replay](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.04728/) (2021)
- [A Neuro-mimetic Realization of the Common Model of Cognition via Hebbian Learning and Free Energy Minimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.15177/) (2023)
- [Neuro-mimetic Task-free Unsupervised Online Learning with Continual Self-Organizing Maps](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.12465/) (2024)
- [Class Incremental Continual Learning with Self-Organizing Maps and Synthetic Replay](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.21240/) (2025)
- [Unsupervised Continual Learning with Growing Self-Organizing Maps and Synthetic Replay](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.27662/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In this article, we propose a novel form of unsupervised learning, continual competitive memory (CCM), as well as a computational framework to unify related neural models that operate under the principles of competition. The resulting neural system is shown to offer an effective approach for combating catastrophic forgetting in online continual classification problems. We demonstrate that the proposed CCM system not only outperforms other competitive learning neural models but also yields performance that is competitive with several modern, state-of-the-art lifelong learning approaches on benchmarks such as Split MNIST and Split NotMNIST. CCM yields a promising path forward for acquiring representations that are robust to interference from data streams, especially when the task is unknown to the model and must be inferred without external guidance.