Rhythms of the Brain

Studies of mechanisms in the brain that allow complicated things to happen in a coordinated fashion have produced some of the most spectacular discoveries in neuroscience. This book provides support for the idea that spontaneous neuron activity, far from being mere noise, is actually the source of our cognitive abilities. It looks at the co-evolution of structure and function in the mammalian brain, illustrating how self-emerged oscillatory timing is the brains fundamental organizer of neuronal information. The small world-like connectivity of the cerebral cortex allows for global computation on multiple spatial and temporal scales. The perpetual interactions among the multiple network oscillators keep cortical systems in a highly sensitive metastable state and provide energy-efficient synchronizing mechanisms via weak links. In a sequence of cycles, this book travels from the physics of oscillations through neuronal assembly organization to complex cognitive processing and memory storage.