Chickens and eggs again -- the sequence matters

[James M. Bower]

Sorry everyone for being so tight about this.

DeLiang Wang wrote:


>His theory and prediction led to the two first
>confirmative reports by Echorn et al. (1988) and Gray et
>al. (1989).

However, in fact, at least Charlie Gray did this work because of his
interest in oscillations arising out of his work in the olfactory system
with Walter Freeman.  I believe that Echorn's group also did the work
without knowing about the theory.



>Since then numerous experiments have been conducted that
>confirm the theory (not without some controversy),

this is vastly too strong a statement.  There are major issues outstanding
about the basic idea and its evidence.  While it is true that Christof's
theory has generated a lot of interest and discussion, it remains to be
seen whether, in the long run, that discussion was useful in figuring out
the significance of cortical oscillations.  It may have been a distraction.



>But one would not dispute that his neural network theory has
>generated major impact on neuroscience.
>


This can not be disputed.  One can wish or not that it was otherwise.


Jim Bower