title: A neural metric.
abstract: On the hypothesis that the language of the brain may be reducible to a simple yet general metric, the parameters of neural activity used by the nervous system to represent information are examined. Obviously the elegant specializations in neuron response characteristics and the discoveries of detailed and complex anatomical connections are important. But these appear to divert our attention from some of the equally important but simplest and most obvious aspects of neural organization. Some of these more obvious important parameters include the absolute sizes of various brain areas, amount of activity evoked in the neurons involved, and the time over which integration occurs. Considering both the simpler and more complex factors together leads to a very simple but powerful hypothesis of the natural language and metrics of the brain, the differences in amounts of evoked activity between diverse functions summed over space and time.
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D002452:Cell Count; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D011601:Psychophysics; D051381:Rats; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014714:Vertebrates