While stability is important for consistent recognition and recall, the brain's inherent plasticity and ongoing learning processes can lead to modifications in these representations.
Over time, the same stimulus or concept might elicit a different, albeit potentially related, pattern of neural activation.
One prominent theory suggests that ongoing learning, even about familiar stimuli, continuously refines and updates neural representations.
[2] Synaptic plasticity, the dynamic strengthening and weakening of connections between neurons, is another likely contributor, as these changes can reshape the neural circuits involved in representing information.
[4] Furthermore, inherent noise within neural systems, including random fluctuations in neuronal firing, could also play a role in driving drift.