David Orenstein writes about a new theory from MIT's Picower Institute arguing that cognition and consciousness arise from analog computations performed by traveling brain waves, rather than from the sequential processing of fixed neural circuits.
- Published in *The Journal of Neuroscience* by Earl Miller, Scott Brincat, and Jefferson Roy; the paper is a review synthesizing years of experimental evidence.
- Alpha and beta waves act as "mobile stencils" that spatially and temporally gate which gamma waves can process sensory input, enabling what the authors call "spatiotemporal computing."
- Ephaptic coupling — electric fields directly influencing neural spiking — provides a rapid feedback mechanism by which waves coordinate the very neurons that generate them.
- Anesthesia studies by Miller and Emery Brown show three drugs with different molecular targets all disrupt large-scale wave organization to produce unconsciousness, supporting the claim that consciousness depends on wave integrity rather than specific receptors.
- Miller acknowledges the theory still needs direct evidence of analog computation in brain wave patterns.
- Published in *The Journal of Neuroscience* by Earl Miller, Scott Brincat, and Jefferson Roy; the paper is a review synthesizing years of experimental evidence.
- Alpha and beta waves act as "mobile stencils" that spatially and temporally gate which gamma waves can process sensory input, enabling what the authors call "spatiotemporal computing."
- Ephaptic coupling — electric fields directly influencing neural spiking — provides a rapid feedback mechanism by which waves coordinate the very neurons that generate them.
- Anesthesia studies by Miller and Emery Brown show three drugs with different molecular targets all disrupt large-scale wave organization to produce unconsciousness, supporting the claim that consciousness depends on wave integrity rather than specific receptors.
- Miller acknowledges the theory still needs direct evidence of analog computation in brain wave patterns.
A study published in Nature Human Behavior reveals that general anesthesia suppresses unique functional connectivity patterns in the brain, making it difficult to distinguish individuals based on their neural activity. This effect is strongest in uniquely human brain regions and has implications for understanding and potentially aiding consciousness recovery.
Researchers at the University of Michigan have used the anesthetic drug propofol to identify the intricate brain geometry behind the unconscious state, offering an unprecedented look at brain structures that have traditionally been difficult to study.
