Rhythms of the Brain Quotes

“The next organizational level above the neuron is the hypothetical cortical module. Most investigators emphasize how little the neocortex varies in its fundamental architectonic appearance from one cortical region to another, while acknowledging that cell size and density can vary systematically. This basic similarity implies that local computations at any cortical location are fundamentally the same.”
― György Buzsáki, Rhythms of the Brain

“Complexity arises from the interaction of many parts, giving rise to difficulties in linear or reductionist analysis due to the nonlinearities generated by the interactions. Such nonlinear effects emerge from both positive (amplifying) and negative (damping) feedbacks, the key ingredients of complex systems.”
― György Buzsáki, Rhythms of the Brain

“Where do the behavioral-cognitive concepts that contemporary cognitive neuroscience operates with come from? The answer is from Aristotle and his heart-centered philosophy, not brain mechanisms. Aristotle’s terms were adopted by the Christian philosophers and were extensively used by both Descartes and the British empiricists John Locke and David Hume. To their credit, they used many of the cognitive expressions only as hypothetical constructs.”
― György Buzsáki, Rhythms of the Brain

“The brain has to be calibrated to the metrics of the environment it lives in, and its internal connections should be modified accordingly. If the statistical features of the environment reflect one particular constellation, the evolving brain should be able to adapt its internal structure so that its dynamics can predict most effectively the consequences of the external perturbation forces.”
― György Buzsáki, Rhythms of the Brain

“So when it comes to the important question of choosing the best method for understanding the brain, I pass along the advice I learned from my professor of pathology György Romhányi: “The best method for investigating any issue is your method.”
― György Buzsáki, Rhythms of the Brain

“potentials is accelerated by their strong myelination. Myelin insulation not only speeds up spike transmission velocity but also protects axons from conduction failure, reduces the cross-talk from neighboring axons, and allows for transmission of much higher frequency pulses per unit time than thinner, unmyelinated fibers.”
― György Buzsáki, Rhythms of the Brain

“In most body organs, defining a unit of operations is quite useful. For example, the kidney’s loop of Henle and the liver acinus are true modules. All modules work in parallel and perform pretty much the same function. In the cerebral cortex, however, modules do not simply operate in parallel but strongly interact. They do not work in isolation but are embedded in a larger structure. Integrative neocortical operations emerge through interactions between the modules rather than within single isolated modules.”
― György Buzsáki, Rhythms of the Brain

“How we approach the problem of time largely determines our view of the outside world around us. First, we need to distinguish two aspects of time. Absolute time is clock time, referring to a particular point in a time series, for example, your birth date. Absolute time is a fundamental element of existence since everything exists in time. Duration refers to the change of time, the interval between two points in time. Elapsed time is therefore relative, and it has an interval span (e.g., hour), whereas absolute time does not have a span (e.g., date). We make a similar absolute versus relative distinction in space as well, when we talk about position and distance”
― György Buzsáki, Rhythms of the Brain