TERRONEX/RESEARCH

Engram Memory Decay Study

A 90-day empirical study measuring how semantic memories stored in Engram degrade over time through biologically-inspired tier transitions: HOT, WARM, COLD, and ARCHIVE.

ACTIVE -- Day 15/90Started: 2026-03-04824 memories3.05 MB
Day
15
of 90
Memories
824
3.05 MB
Weekly Recall
0%
0/0 questions
Avg Similarity
0%
cosine distance
Tier Transitions
252
HOT → WARM achieved!

Memory Tier Distribution

HOT
572 (69.4%)
WARM
252 (30.6%)
COLD
ARCHIVE

Experiment Progress

Day 15 / 90 (16.7%)
March 4, 2026HOT->WARM achieved Day 15!WARM->COLD expected ~Day 60June 2, 2026

What This Experiment Measures

Primary Questions

  • 1. How fast do semantic memories degrade when not accessed?
  • 2. Does recall accuracy drop before or after tier transitions?
  • 3. Do access patterns (recall testing) slow decay measurably?
  • 4. Is the 30% similarity threshold appropriate for "meaningful recall"?
  • 5. How does memory density (count) affect recall quality?

Design Decisions

  • Weekly testing (not daily): Prevents access boosts from artificially keeping memories HOT
  • 25% sampling (max 50): Lets 75% of memories age without any interference
  • 30% similarity threshold: High bar for "successful recall" to avoid false positives
  • 16-subject rotation: Cross-domain knowledge tests domain independence of decay