The Formation of Global Neurocognitive State

I propose in this chapter that the formation of global neurocognitive state in the cerebral cortex is central to the mammalian capacity for assessment of organismic state. I consider a putative mechanism for the formation of global neurocognitive state from interactions among interconnected cortical areas. In this model, each area makes a local assessment of its own current state, representing a partial assessment of organismic state, through the generation of packets of high-frequency oscillatory wave activity. The spatial amplitude modulation (AM) pattern of the wave packet is proposed to represent the expression of an area’s current state in relation to the other areas with which it is interacting. Through their interactions, sets of cortical areas mutually constrain the AM patterns of their wave packets. It is proposed that this process leads to the manifestation of wave packets having cognitively consistent patterns, and the formation of globally unified consensual neurocognitive states.