lo BRAINS OF RATS AND MEN 



knowledge previously acquired can be fitted into new 

 situations). 



These cortical potentialities form the organic 

 background of those reserves of power and capacity 

 and those latent possibilities of education and con- 

 structive thinking that are present in all of us and yet 

 too often never come to practical expression, as 

 James has so graphically portrayed in his discussion 

 of "The Energies of Men" (1907). 



All this means that when the auditory cortical 

 field is activated — say by the sound of the dinner bell 

 — or the visual cortical field is activated — say by the 

 sight of the table spread in the dining-room — the 

 associational fibers which reach out from these 

 cortical fields may in turn activate remote parts of 

 the cortex in diverse patterns in unimaginable com- 

 plexity, depending upon the innate architecture of 

 the cortex and the past experience of the individual. 

 Specific memory vestiges of previous related experi- 

 ences are reactivated, and each of these irradiated 

 nervous excitations implies the quickening into func- 

 tional activity of many millions of nerve cells related 

 to one another in some definite structural pattern. 



As the hostess gives her dining table a final ap- 

 praising glance, many things flash through her mind. 

 Is the service properly appointed? Are the courses 

 ready in the kitchen in proper sequence? Has the 

 seating of the guests been tactfully planned? Mrs. 

 Wilbur's new yellow gown will clash with her neigh- 



