The higher-order theory (HOT) of consciousness has often been misunderstood by critics. Here, we clarify its position on several issues, and distinguish it from other views, such as the global workspace theory (GWT) and early sensory models (e.g., first-order local recurrency theories). For example, HOT has been criticized for overintellectualizing consciousness. We show that, while […]

The functional features of neural circuits are determined by a combination of properties that range in scale from projections systems across the whole brain to molecular interactions at the synapse. The burgeoning field of neurocartography seeks to map these relevant features of brain structure—spanning a volume ~20 orders of magnitude—to determine how neural circuits perform […]

Propagating waves with complex dynamics have been widely observed in neural population activity. To understand their formation mechanisms, we investigate a type of two-dimensional neural field model by systematically varying its recurrent excitatory and inhibitory inputs. We show that the neural field model exhibits a rich repertoire of dynamical activity states when the relevant strength […]