Neuroscience Experimental Evidence
Eligibility Traces
Neurons in the brain maintain traces of preceding activity on the molecular level, for example in the form of calcium ions or activated CaMKII enzymes. That is, they maintain a fading memory of events where the presynaptic neuron fired before the postsynaptic neuron, which induces synaptic plasticity, if followed by a top-down learning signal.
Top-down learning signals
Top-down learning signals such as dopaminergistic signals, are abundant, and inform local population of neurons about the behavioural results.