Coding and Computation in the Cortex: Single-Neuron Activity and Cooperative Phenomena

There is widespread consensus among neurophysiologists and neuropsychologists that neurons are involved in information processing and computations carried out by the brain. Yet there is still remarkably little understanding of the mechanisms underlying these processes. Similarly, also the nature of the neural code (or codes) being used by the brain is still very much open for discussion. In view of this, it is essential to consider different alternatives. Not only does each of them dictate a way of thinking about brain mechanisms, they also suggest different experimental approaches toward experimental studies of these mechanisms