# Human-Like Lifelong Memory: A Neuroscience-Grounded Architecture for Infinite Interaction

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.29023 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.29023/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 9 of its 68 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 30 Mar 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [Lost in the Middle: How Language Models Use Long Contexts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.03172/) (2023)
- [A-MEM: Agentic Memory for LLM Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.12110/) (2025)
- [Mem0: Building Production-Ready AI Agents with Scalable Long-Term Memory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.19413/) (2025)
- [Titans: Learning to Memorize at Test Time](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.00663/) (2024)
- [From RAG to Memory: Non-Parametric Continual Learning for Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.14802/) (2025)
- [Context Length Alone Hurts LLM Performance Despite Perfect Retrieval](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.05381/) (2025)
- [Human-inspired Episodic Memory for Infinite Context LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.09450/) (2024)
- [LaRA: Benchmarking Retrieval-Augmented Generation and Long-Context LLMs -- No Silver Bullet for LC or RAG Routing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.09977/) (2025)
- [EcphoryRAG: Re-Imagining Knowledge-Graph RAG via Human Associative Memory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.08958/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Large language models lack persistent, structured memory for long-term interaction and context-sensitive retrieval. Expanding context windows does not solve this: recent evidence shows that context length alone degrades reasoning by up to 85% - even with perfect retrieval. We propose a bio-inspired memory framework grounded in complementary learning systems theory, cognitive behavioral therapy's belief hierarchy, dual-process cognition, and fuzzy-trace theory, organized around three principles: (1) Memory has valence, not just content - pre-computed emotional-associative summaries (valence vectors) organized in an emergent belief hierarchy inspired by Beck's cognitive model enable instant orientation before deliberation; (2) Retrieval defaults to System 1 with System 2 escalation - automatic spreading activation and passive priming as default, with deliberate retrieval only when needed, and graded epistemic states that address hallucination structurally; and (3) Encoding is active, present, and feedback-dependent - a thalamic gateway tags and routes information between stores, while the executive forms gists through curiosity-driven investigation, not passive exposure. Seven functional properties specify what any implementation must satisfy. Over time, the system converges toward System 1 processing - the computational analog of clinical expertise - producing interactions that become cheaper, not more expensive, with experience.