THE FUNCTIONS OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX 299 



a nodal point in a very complex system of associated conduction 

 paths. Those reflexes whose simple functions can be localized 

 in a single center have their mechanisms abundantly provided for 

 in the brain stem. The resting brain is probably normally 

 during life in a state of neural tension in more or less stable 

 equilibrium. An effective stimulus disturbs this equilibrium 

 and the precise effect will depend upon variable synaptic resist- 

 ance or neuron thresholds which change with different functional 

 states of the organism as a whole and of the brain in particular. 

 If this activity involves the cerebral cortex of a human brain, it 

 may be a conscious activity, the kind of consciousness depending 

 on the kind of discharge. But the consciousness must not be 

 thought of as localized in any cortical area. The discharge in 

 question may reverberate to the extreme limits of the nervous 

 system and the peripheral activities may be as essential in deter- 

 mining the conscious content as the cortical. 



LITERATURE 



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