Evolution of Neocortex

In this chapter I shall attempt to derive the outlines of a theory of neocortical evolution from a series of observations based mainly on the anatomy and physiology of cerebral cortex in living animals. Such an exercise in evolutionary inference is by its nature a speculative enterprise. Hopefully, it will serve to guide future comparative, developmental and biophysical studies that might shed some additional light on this intriguing but inaccessible topic. To illustrate organizational features of cortex, I have drawn examples mainly from visual cortex.

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