?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Signals+and+signs+in+the+nervous+system%3A+The+dynamic+anatomy+of+electrical+activity&rft.creator=Bullock%2C+T.H.&rft.subject=Behavioral+Neuroscience&rft.subject=Computational+Neuroscience&rft.subject=Neuroanatomy&rft.subject=Neurochemistry&rft.subject=Neurology&rft.subject=Neurology&rft.description=The+dichotomy+between+two+groups+of+workers+on+neuroelectrical+activity+is+retarding+progress.+To+study+the+interrelations+between+neuronal+unit+spike+activity+and+compound+field+potentials+of+cell+populations+is+both+unfashionable+and+technically+challenging.+Neither+of+the+mutual+disparagements+is+justified%3A+that+spikes+are+to+higher+functions+as+the+alphabet+is+to+Shakespeare+and+that+slow+field+potentials+are+irrelevant+epiphenomena.+Spikes+are+not+the+basis+of+the+neural+code+but+of+multiple+codes+that+coexist+with+nonspike+codes.+Field+potentials+are+mainly+information-rich+signs+of+underlying+processes%2C+but+sometimes+also+signals+for+neighboring+cells%2C+that+is%2C+exert+influence.+This+paper+concerns+opportunities+for+new+research+with+many+channels+of+wideband+(spike+and+slow+wave)+recording.+A+wealth+of+structure+in+time+and+3-dimensional+space%2C+is+different+at+each+scale%2C+micro-%2C+meso-+and+macroactivity.+The+depth+of+our+ignorance+is+emphasized+to+underline+the+opportunities+for+uncovering+new+principles.+We+cannot+currently+estimate+the+relative+importance+of+spikes+and+synaptic+communication+vs+extrasynaptic%2C+graded+signals.+In+spite+of+a+preponderance+of+literature+on+the+former%2C+we+must+consider+the+latter+as+probably+important.+We+are+in+a+primitive+stage+of+looking+at+the+time+series+of+wideband+voltages+in+the+compound%2C+local+field+potentials+and+of+choosing+descriptors+that+discriminate+appropriately+among+brain+loci%2C+states+(functions)%2C+stages+(ontogeny%2C+senescence)+and+taxa+(evolution).+This+is+not+surprising+since+the+brains+in+higher+species+are+surely+the+most+complex+systems+known.+They+must+be+the+greatest+reservoir+of+new+discoveries+in+nature.+The+complexity+should+not+deter+us+but+a+dose+of+humility+can+stimulate+the+imaginative+juices.&rft.date=1997&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F113%2F1%2FSigns_signals.html&rft.identifier=++Bullock%2C+T.H.++(1997)+Signals+and+signs+in+the+nervous+system%3A+The+dynamic+anatomy+of+electrical+activity.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F113%2F