ABSTRACT
The temporal dimension has historically played a subsidiary role in theories of brain function, often notable by its absence. Despite the fact that contemporary formulations of brain mechanisms recognize their dynamic nature, the temporal aspects of neural processes have not been explicitly integrated into an overall theoretical treatment in modern cognitive science. A large body of evidence on cerebral localization, derived from observations on patients with focal brain damage, was collected after the seminal report by Broca in 1860. These data added substance and detail to Gall's basic idea of functional localization within the cerebral cortex. The electrical activity of the brain was first observed by Richard Caton in 1875, when he noted fluctuations of currents recorded directly from the cortex in awake animals. Observations of the electromagnetic manifestations of neural activity are capable in principle of depicting the moment-by-moment pattern of activity within the brain during sensorimotor and mental processes.
