PHYLOS: Phylogenetic Hierarchical Yielding Lifelong Ontogenetic System

PHYLOS investigates whether mammalian brain topology and localized learning dynamics can replace global backpropagation in continual autonomous control. The system coordinates six specialized neuro-anatomical modules: Sensory Cortex (predictive coding V1→V2→IT), Prefrontal Cortex (working memory slot attention), Hippocampus (kWTA pattern separation with continuous Modern Hopfield CA3 retrieval), Limbic Drives (homeostatic drive reduction), Cerebellum (forward motor error timing), and Basal Ganglia (striatal D1/D2 action gating). Signals are dynamically orchestrated by a Thalamic Neural Router solving entropy-regularized optimal transport via the Sinkhorn-Knopp algorithm, maintaining robust continual learning across dynamic curriculum stages without catastrophic forgetting.