Model-based neuroimaging for cognitive computing.

Abstract

The continuity of the mind is suggested to mean the continuous spatiotemporal dynamics arising from the electrochemical signature of the neocortex: (i) globally through volume transmission in the gray matter as fields of neural activity, and (ii) locally through extrasynaptic signaling between fine distal dendrites of cortical neurons. If the continuity of dynamical systems across spatiotemporal scales defines a stream of consciousness then intentional metarepresentations as templates of dynamic continuity allow qualia to be semantically mapped during neuroimaging of specific cognitive tasks. When interfaced with a computer, such model-based neuroimaging requiring new mathematics of the brain will begin to decipher higher cognitive operations not possible with existing brain-machine interfaces.