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Hecht-Nielsen,
Robert A theory of the cerebral cortex The author’s comprehensive iconoclast theory of the cerebral cortex is sketched. It hypothesizes that cortex is divided into roughly 100 regions (mostly Broca areas) which are the fundamental units of cerebral information processing. Regions process information episodically (with episodes typically lasting 100 ms - 500 ms). Each episode (a period of regional activity) is deliberately triggered by inputs to the region originating in the thalamic intralaminar nuclei and/or the midbrain reticular formation. The generation of these activating inputs is caused by outputs from frontal cortex. These cortical thought control outputs are phylogenetic evolutes of motor outputs; only instead of contracting a muscle they cause a region to process information. The main purposes of frontal cortex are to generate a candidate action (motor and/or thought) every time any cortical region carries out an information processing episode and to compete these candidates to determine which will be executed. These thought loops continue endlessly throughout wakefulness. Sleep is the (inherently stable) state where all cortical regions are inactive (although many neurons are still firing). The talk will explain exactly what information processing operation cortical regions carry out (there is only one) and give an overview of how memory works.
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