Michael Anderson (University of Western Ontario)
This paper will examine some of the evidence that global neural function is the result of the formation of dynamic coalitions of diverse neural elements, at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Against a specifically Cartesian or modular framework, I will argue that the dynamic functional architecture of the brain is best understood *not* in terms of neural units with fixed input-output mappings (i.e. "modules"), but instead in terms of neural partners with complex functional profiles that interact via mutual constraint, selecting some and suppressing other capacities to form temporarily assembled, task-specific synergies.
