ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book presents a large area of research, spanning both anatomical and physiological data, as well as the psychological literature, which forms its largest part. Axons in a network with conduction times of 10 msec or less may have a special role for maintenance of activity, and for ensuring security of transmission in temporally-extended chains of activity. They should also be important in representing spatial or “quasi-spatial” patterns, rather than temporal patterns. The most likely neural process for representation of such precise temporal structure in the brain is axonal conduction time. The data available from small-brained mammalian species indicates, despite its biases, that conduction times of several tens of milliseconds are common. If the biases are allowed for, and simple projections of the data are made for larger-brained animals.
