Neural ensemble coding and statistical periodicity: Speculations on the operation of the mind's eye

Statistical periodicity is a statistical property of densities which arises in the description of retarded dynamical systems. This property is particu larly attractive as a possible mechanism for the ensemble coding of informa tion in the nervous system because it operates rapidly and has high storage capacity. For a population of neurons which exhibits statistical periodici ty, information would not be encoded by the periodicity, but rather by the spatio-temporal distributions of neural activity. Statistical periodicity i s discussed in relation to the temporal binding hypothesis and to the occur rence of multistability in neural systems. (C) 2000 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.