Simple Reverberations and the Mind

Abstract

The manner in which simple reverberations may be used to explain higher-order cognitive processes is developed from the ideas of Caianiello on reverberations [1]. In Part I, a preliminary description is given as to how such reverberations can be created, held and annihilated in a controlled manner. A discussion is then given, in Part II, of the nature of, and problems associated with, modelling the frontal lobes. In particular the manner they may be used to learn and generate temporal sequences — involving the manipulation of reverberations — is studied as part of analysis of working memory. An earlier model, that of ‘crumbling histories’, is reviewed, and problems it contains considered. A simplified model of the architecture of the frontal lobes, the ACTION network, is then considered. This in its turn is applied to study the task of temporal sequence storage and generation. A hard-wired version of the ACTION network and the representative dynamics of some of its neurons is shown. We then analyse the manner in which the model is affected by damage corresponding to loss of dopamine. A further section analyses the essential neural activity of creation and annihilation of multi-neuron reverberations in these simulations by bifurcation methods. Part III then considers how simple reverberations are relevant in the posterior cortex to support the emergence of consciousness and reaches the conclusion that this takes place in the inferior parietal lobes. Part IV gives conclusions.