CONSTRUCTION OF CONCEPTS BY THE NERVOUS-SYSTEM - FROM NEURONS TO COGNITION

Neurophysiological studies have recently identified a pattern of synch ronized slow-wave activity in the visual cortex which characteristical ly encompasses groups of neurons activated by similar or closely relat ed stimulus attributes. This slow-wave activity appears to tag cluster s of neurons to form aggregates representing in their totality more co mplex, higher-order stimulus attributes across disparate positions in the cortical representation. The notion is advanced that the function of these aggregates is analogous to that ascribed to the subsymbolic c omputational level in connectionist networks. On this basis, the argum ent is presented that the synchronized cortical activity is an importa nt aspect of the construction of symbolic representation by the nervou s system and, thus, a step from neural information processing to the s ymbolic processes stipulated by classical cognitivism.