Figure 5.

Discrete Results: functional units of neural computational integration. Different sets of possible Ensembles are created by different synchronized networks of FS cells along the cortical processing hierarchy. Experimental studies support this idea. Distinct clusters of FS interneurons have been identified in the cortex. For example, in the rat barrel cortex, one layer 4 FS interneuron type has an axonal domain strictly confined to a barrel (Koelbl et al., 2015). Accordingly, the cortex performs computations using multiple Ensembles in parallel creating a multitude of Discrete Results simultaneously. Discrete Results at higher levels integrate computational results from previous stages. Therefore, each Discrete Result constitutes a functional unit that has the ability to process, integrate and represent specific content (Discrete Results) from previous computations. Consequently, in sensory processing, they functionally contribute to unified stimulus codification. Therefore, the Discrete Result concept could explain the binding of separate features enabling perceptual unity. Experimental data provide support for this proposal. Highly distributed representations of tactile information have been described in the cortex (Nicolelis et al., 1997). Moreover, the auditory cortex is dominated by broad scale dynamics in which a complete representation of sounds emerges only at a global scale (Bathellier et al., 2012).