1. A spatiotemporal associative memory system, comprising: a plurality of electronic neurons having a layered neural net relationship with directional synaptic connectivity, wherein the plurality of electronic neurons: detect the presence of a spatiotemporal pattern in an input data stream; extract the spatiotemporal pattern; based on learning rules, store the spatiotemporal pattern in the plurality of electronic neurons, wherein the learning rules provide the level of conductance of synaptic interconnections between the electronic neurons as a function of the spatiotemporal patterns; and upon being presented with a version of the spatiotemporal pattern, retrieve the stored spatiotemporal pattern.