Oscillatory brain theory: a new trend in neuroscience

During the "Decade of the Brain", brain science is coming to terms with its ultimate problem: understanding the mechanisms by which the immense number of neurons in the human brain interact to produce the higher cognitive functions. The analysis of the brain's natural frequencies opens a new window toward a combined analysis of sensory and cognitive functions at the level of single neurons and the field potentials. In the last decade, our research group has been strongly involved in the development of nonlinear brain dynamics and with the oscillatory processes of neural assemblies. Recently, three new volumes extensively described this new evolution in neuroscience by concluding that a new integrative neurophysiology and a new "brain theory" is needed in order to confront the problems recognized in this decade of the brain. This article provides a brief outline of how the findings in the last 20 years of research have led to such a development.