Commentary by Steven L. Bressler

Abstract

The purpose of this short chapter is to advance our understanding of the functional actions that occur between different areas of the mammalian neocortex. This topic is of immense importance to the question of the neural basis of cognition, both in animals and humans. For example, one conceptual framework that has emerged over many years describes cognitive function in terms of actions between areas in large-scale networks of the neocortex, or neurocognitive networks Bressler Neurocogn Netw Schol, 3:1567, 2008, [37], Mesulam, Brain, 121:1013–1052, 1998 [38], Bressler, Neurocogn Netw Schol, 3:1567, 2008 [12], Meehan T, Bressler, Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 36:2232–2247, 2012 [36]. It posits the neocortical area as a computational processing entity in the brain, and the large-scale structure of anatomical pathways connecting those areas as the connectivity matrix that determines the interareal actions underlying the cortical computations of a species. The inhomogeneity of the large-scale cortical connectivity suggests that the neocortex is not a homogeneous computational medium and that interareal cortical connectivity is important for cortical function. The neurocognitive network framework is directly linked to the idea that cognition is a collective phenomena that emerges from the actions exerted between cortical areas. In short, the nature of cognition in the human brain is intimately tied to an understanding of how cortical areas act upon one another, and how those actions lead to emergent neurocognitive phenomena.