Circuits in the Brain

Dr. Charles Legendy's Circuits in the Brain: A Model of Shape Processing in the Primary Visual Cortex is published at a time marked by unprecedented advances in experimental brain research which are, however, not matched by similar advances in theoretical insight. For this reason, the timing is ideal for the appearance of Dr. Legendy's book, which undertakes to derive certain global features of the brain directly from the neurons. Circuits in the Brain, with its "relational firing" model of shape processing, includes a step-by-step development of a set of multi-neuronal networks for transmitting visual relations, using a strategy believed to be equally applicable to many aspects of brain function other than vision. The book contains a number of testable predictions at the neuronal level, some believed to be accessible to the techniques which have recently become available. With its novel approach and concrete references to anatomy and physiology, the monograph promises to open up entirely new avenues of brain research, and will be particularly useful to graduate students, academics, and researchers studying neuroscience and neurobiology. In addition, since Dr. Legendy's book succeeds in achieving a clean logical presentation without mathematics, and uses a bare minimum of technical terminology, it may also be enjoyed by non-scientists intrigued by the intellectual challenge of the elegant devices applied inside our brain. The book is uniquely self-contained; with more than 120 annotated illustrations it goes into full detail in describing all functional and theoretical concepts on which it builds. About the Author:Dr. Charles Legendy holds a bachelors' degree in electrical engineering from Princeton and a PhD in physics from Cornell. He wrote his first papers in solid-state physics (helicons), then turned his attention to the theory of data processing in the brain, the subject of the present book. Over the years, in addition, he was involved in a number of projects in experimental brain research (electrophysiology), aerospace engineering, and computers. Dr. Legendy lives with his wife in New York City.

Part 1. Concepts of Brain Theory 1. Lettvin’s challenge
2. Issues concerning the nature of neuronal response
3. 'Events' in the brain
4. Cell assemblies
5. Surprise, statistical inference, and conceptual notes
6. A new term: ignitions which 'reach' or 'don’t reach' a neuron
7. Confirmation loops, powered by self-ignitions
8. Communicating 'relatedness' through time-linked ignitions
9. Relational firing: broadcasting a shape through time-linked ignitions Part 2. Contour strings and the contour wave 10. Enter the contour string
11. Drift of the retinal image
12. Theory of the simple cell
13. Theory of the complex cell
14. Corner processing: theory of the hypercomplex cell Part 3. Nodes, links, bridgeheads 15. Nodes on contour strings
16. Custom-made unstable networks made to support tracking
17. Why is the drifting retinal image helpful in perception?
18. The maintenance of moving nodes and bridgeheads Part 4. Firing games and the integration of contours 19. Making the first links by crawling along a contour string
20. Using existing links to make new links on the same contour
21. Completing a triangle of links