"In this book, Mircea Steriade cautions against the tendency to infer global brain functions, normal and pathological, from the properties of single neurons or simple networks. Studies on extremely simplified preparations, he argues, led to a climate in which isolated neuronal networks and even single neurons are sometimes considered responsible for complex physiological processes that arise naturally from interconnections between many brain structures.

These interconnections cannot be seen in brain slices. Based on his lifetime of research, Steriade emphasizes the need to integrate information obtained from studies of simple circuits within the context of an intact brain. Despite the degree to which knowledge of brain structure and function have progressed, he views skeptically the quest to relate consciousness to specific neuronal types, located in distinct cortical layers or in circumscribed neuronal systems."--BOOK JACKET.