Synchronization: The Computational Currency of Cognition

Abstract

Spatiotemporal codes, such as synchronization of neuronal activity, offer significant computational advantages over traditional rate codes, and our recent simulation studies suggest a role for synchronization in a broad range of cognitive processes, from contour detection to associative memory. We suggest that synchronization mediates Gestalt-based perceptual organization in striate cortex, and that the degree of synchronization represents the perceptual salience of an object. Spatiotemporal coding provides an efficient representation for recognition, and we propose a medial point hypercolumn representation of object shape. Finally, we consider the effects of neuromodulation o n synchronization and temporal dynamics in the hippocampal memory system. Together, these processes suggest that the control and coordination of synchronization may be a basic component of many cognitive processes.