ABSTRACT
An account of any aspect of biological activity should properly be grounded within a comprehensive theory of organisms, but it will suffice for present purposes to concentrate on what is undoubtedly, in any theoretical framework, one of the most basic concepts used to describe organic life, that of homeostasis. With respect to both energy requirements and processing capacity, habituation or any similar adaptation which facilitates the return of the cortex to its state of resting equilibrium has a positive role, to be viewed as a component of autoplastic homeostasis. While it is essential to understand something of the brain’s responses to simple stimuli and to the general biological implications of information processing at this basic level, human activity is related to sensations to only a minor degree. The chapter considers its plastic properties of rhythm and assonance, before embarking on matters of linguistics.
