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How the Brain ‘Constructs’ the Outside World
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How the Brain ‘Constructs’ the Outside World

Neural activity probes your physical surroundings to select just the information needed to survive and flourish

György Buzsáki
Scientific American, 2022
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9

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  • Scientific
  • Eye Opening
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Neuroscience assumed for decades that the brain starts as a “blank slate” onto which experience “paints” itself, thus becoming more complex over time. In fact, the brain is far more concerned with its own internal dynamics than with simply processing external stimuli, suggesting a more robust “inside-out” model for perception. Systems neuroscientist György Buzsáki’s experiments with rats reveal that neural activity is a constant interplay between internal processes and external stimulation. Cognition’s core lies in how the brain connects new experiences to foundational knowledge.

Take-Aways

  • The “outside-in” model isn’t sufficient to explain how the brain processes stimuli.
  • The “inside-out” alternative posits that perception is an active process.
  • The brain learns by connecting new stimuli to recollected experiences.

About the Author

György Buzsáki is a systems neuroscientist whose work has focused on the ways memories form and how brain rhythms segment neural information to support cognition. He was a co-recipient of the 2011 Brain Prize from the Lundbeck Foundation. Buzsáki is the author most recently of The Brain from Inside Out.

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