ABSTRACT
Modern neurobiology is founded upon the reflex paradigm of Charles Sherrington (1) and undergirded by the neuron doctrine and connectivity paradigm of Ramon Y. Cajal. Unfortunately many robust physiological and behavioral phenomena are not easily reducible to analysis w ithin this powerful conceptual framework. The phenom ena include (1) the spontaneous activity o f the CNS, which precedes and outlasts the effects o f stimulation that cause reflexive response; (2) the organized fluctuations o f spontaneous activity whose rhythm icity persists even when syn chronizing stimuli are masked; and (3) the organization of phases o f the rhythmic fluctuations o f physiological activity into states whose properties determine be haviors including conscious experience. Perhaps the most cogent argument for the com plem entarily of the reflex and state concepts is that the reflexes are themselves state dependent.
