Just One Brain Activity

Abstract

The term brain activity refers to a wide range of mental faculties that can be assessed either on anatomical/functional micro-, meso- and macro-spatiotemporal scales of observation, or on intertwined levels with mutual interactions. Here we show, based on novel topological findings, how every brain activity encompassed in a given anatomical or functional level necessarily displays a counterpart in others. Different brain activities are able to scatter, collide and combine, merging, condensing and stitching together in a testable and quantifiable way. We point out how, despite their local cortical functional differences, all the mental processes, from perception to emotions, from cognition to mind wandering, may be reduced to a single, general brain activity that takes place in dimensions higher than the classical 3D plus time. In physics, the term duality refers to the case where two seemingly different systems turn out to be equivalent. Our framework permits a topological duality among different brain activities and neuro-techniques, because it holds for all the types of spatio-temporal nervous functions, independent of their cortical location, inter- and intra-level relationships, strength, magnitude and boundaries.