What neuronal oscillations, or brainwaves, do and do not do.
Wave therapy is a handy update on the still unclear purpose of synchronised neuronal firing in the brain. Such synchrony has long been known. The reason for the uncertainty is partly because these electrical oscillations might have several purposes. One suggestion is that they help lay down memories in the brain. Another is that they enable the convergence of outputs from different neuronal networks. This would be important for perception. One network on its own might not be enough to identify a percept, whilst more than one network might. But the networks would need to generate their outputs simultaneously to deliver the correct identification. This could answer the philosophical question called the binding problem. However tempting it might be to think so, it is not at all clear, however, that it is the answer to consciousness.
You may also like to browse other neuroscience posts: https://www.thesentientrobot.com/category/neuroscience/
