The neocortex is a complex neurobiological system with many interacting regions. How these regions work together to subserve flexible behavior and cognition has become increasingly amenable to rigorous research. Here, I review recent experimental and theoretical work on the modus operandi of a multiregional cortex. These studies revealed several general principles for the neocortical interareal connectivity, low-dimensional macroscopic gradients of biological properties across cortical areas, and a hierarchy of timescales for information processing. Theoretical work suggests testable predictions regarding differential excitation and inhibition along feedforward and feedback pathways in the cortical hierarchy. Furthermore, modeling of distributed working memory and simple decision-making has given rise to a novel mathematical concept, dubbed bifurcation in space, that potentially explains how different cortical areas, with a canonical circuit organization but gradients of biological heterogeneities, are able to subserve their respective (e.g., sensory coding versus executive control) functions in a modularly organized brain.

中文翻译：

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多区域新皮质理论：大规模神经动力学和分布式认知

新皮质是一个复杂的神经生物学系统，具有许多相互作用的区域。这些区域如何协同工作以促进灵活的行为和认知已变得越来越适合严格的研究。在这里，我回顾了最近关于多区域皮层操作方式的实验和理论工作。这些研究揭示了新皮质区域间连接的几个一般原则、跨皮质区域生物特性的低维宏观梯度以及信息处理的时间尺度层次结构。理论工作提出了关于皮质层次结构中前馈和反馈路径的差异兴奋和抑制的可测试预测。此外，分布式工作记忆和简单决策的建模催生了一种新的数学概念，称为空间分叉，它可能解释不同的皮层区域（具有规范的电路组织和生物异质性梯度）如何能够促进它们的功能。模块化组织的大脑中各自的功能（例如，感觉编码与执行控制）。