ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a natural expression of fuzzy logic in the function of the brain. It begins with a historical account of the fuzzy perspective in neuroscience, and supports this perspective with recent neurophysiological data. The chapter utilizes the activity of taste neurons as an example of a biological fuzzy membership function, and suggests that this conceptualization can be successfully used as an organizational tool in understanding neural function in general. It demonstrates that the dynamics of taste neurons can indeed be modeled by a fuzzy Sugeno model. Since the brain is a biological neural network, the chapter also addresses the possible implementation of a fuzzy machine using artificial neural networks. It concludes with a discussion of some implications of this view for neuroscience and fuzzy modeling. The apparent fuzzy nature of neural activity has implications for neural network models of the brain.
