The brain can be compared with the human global system, which involves simultaneous interactions of people, cities, nations, etc. Thus, any theory of EEG constructed at smaller scales must be coarse grained before comparisons are made with scalp data. In the global theory, the switching between more local and more global operation is mediated by local and global control parameters, which are assumed to change due to the influences of various neuromodulators. Given these apparently critical contributions to neocortical dynamics, the usual neural network methods, which contain almost none of these features to significant degree, are likely to have very limited application to successful theories of neocortical function. Metaphorical descriptions, which may be based on analogs to known physical systems, can be of great value in designing both theory and experiment.
Scientific advancement is greatest when agreement between theory and experiment is achieved.
In my view, the main value of Wright et al.'s target article lies in communicating several general concepts, which are apparently critical to brain dynamic function, to disparate fields. I am less enthusiastic about some of the details. Steady-state Visually Evoked Potentials and Traveling Waves. Ph.D. Dissertation, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. Predictions on Neocortical Dynamics Derived from Studies in Paleocortex.