An adaptive cognitive prosthetic that learns to replace neural function that was lost due to a brain injury or disease is described herein. In some embodiments, an adaptive cognitive prosthetic comprises a processing unit for converting input data from an input assembly into a cognitive variable and selecting a stimulation pattern for conveying the cognitive variable. The processing unit employs an adaptive algorithm to assemble the stimulation pattern by combination of subset stimulation patterns, the combination of subset stimulation patterns learned by the adaptive algorithm through error analysis.