A linear theory for global electrocortical activity and its control by the lateral hypothalamus.

A linear model for electrocortical waves and their control by the lateral hypothalamus is proposed. It is argued that such a linear model is not in contradiction to non-linearity of neural elements on the microscopic scale. Telencephalic structures are treated as a mass of linked oscillators generating activity with a number of resonant modes. The lateral hypothalamus is regarded as controlling damping of activity in the telencephalic mass, and therefore exerting a specific parametric control over all signal processing in the cortical networks. An initial test is proposed to assess the constancy of telencephalic natural frequencies, with variation in lateral hypothalamic damping.