title: Emergence in the central nervous system.
abstract: "Emergence" is an idea that has received much attention in consciousness literature, but it is difficult to find characterizations of that concept which are both specific and useful. I will precisely define and characterize a type of epistemic ("weak") emergence and show that it is a property of some neural circuits throughout the CNS, on micro-, meso- and macroscopic levels. I will argue that possession of this property can result in profoundly altered neural dynamics on multiple levels in cortex and other systems. I will first describe emergent neural entities (ENEs) abstractly. I will then show how ENEs function specifically and concretely, and demonstrate some implications of this type of emergence for the CNS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Icahn Medical Institute, 1425 Madison Ave, Rm 10-70E, New York, NY 10029 USA ; 158 W 23rd St, Fl 3, New York, NY 10011 USA.
authors.forename: Steven Ravett
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Brown
keywords: Emergence; Gamma; Internal viewpoint; Mesoscopic; Microcircuit; Mushroom body; Recurrence; Recursive; Theta