TY - JOUR
T1 - Theory of the Multiregional Neocortex
T2 - Large-Scale Neural Dynamics and Distributed Cognition
AU - Wang, Xiao Jing
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 by Annual Reviews.
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - The neocortex is a complex neurobiological system with many interacting regions. How these regions work together to subserve flexible behavior and cognition has become increasingly amenable to rigorous research. Here, I review recent experimental and theoretical work on the modus operandi of a multiregional cortex. These studies revealed several general principles for the neocortical interareal connectivity, low-dimensional macroscopic gradients of biological properties across cortical areas, and a hierarchy of timescales for information processing. Theoretical work suggests testable predictions regarding differential excitation and inhibition along feedforward and feedback pathways in the cortical hierarchy. Furthermore, modeling of distributed working memory and simple decision-making has given rise to a novel mathematical concept, dubbed bifurcation in space, that potentially explains how different cortical areas, with a canonical circuit organization but gradients of biological heterogeneities, are able to subserve their respective (e.g., sensory coding versus executive control) functions in a modularly organized brain.
AB - The neocortex is a complex neurobiological system with many interacting regions. How these regions work together to subserve flexible behavior and cognition has become increasingly amenable to rigorous research. Here, I review recent experimental and theoretical work on the modus operandi of a multiregional cortex. These studies revealed several general principles for the neocortical interareal connectivity, low-dimensional macroscopic gradients of biological properties across cortical areas, and a hierarchy of timescales for information processing. Theoretical work suggests testable predictions regarding differential excitation and inhibition along feedforward and feedback pathways in the cortical hierarchy. Furthermore, modeling of distributed working memory and simple decision-making has given rise to a novel mathematical concept, dubbed bifurcation in space, that potentially explains how different cortical areas, with a canonical circuit organization but gradients of biological heterogeneities, are able to subserve their respective (e.g., sensory coding versus executive control) functions in a modularly organized brain.
KW - computational modeling
KW - distributed cognition
KW - global brain dynamics
KW - hierarchy of timescales
KW - macroscopic gradients
KW - neocortical connectome
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U2 - 10.1146/annurev-neuro-110920-035434
DO - 10.1146/annurev-neuro-110920-035434
M3 - Review article
C2 - 35803587
AN - SCOPUS:85134334469
SN - 0147-006X
VL - 45
SP - 533
EP - 560
JO - Annual Review of Neuroscience
JF - Annual Review of Neuroscience
ER -