Cited by 28Memory and Neural MechanismsNeural dynamics and brain functionNeurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms

The generative grammar of the brain: a critique of internally generated representations

Open access
Dragoi, George·2024·Nature Reviews Neuroscience

Abstract

The past decade of progress in neurobiology has uncovered important organizational principles for network preconfiguration and neuronal selection that suggest a generative grammar exists in the brain. In this Perspective, I discuss the competence of the hippocampal neural network to generically express temporally compressed sequences of neuronal firing that represent novel experiences, which is envisioned as a form of generative neural syntax supporting a neurobiological perspective on brain function. I compare this neural competence with the hippocampal network performance that represents specific experiences with higher fidelity after new learning during replay, which is envisioned as a form of neural semantic that supports a complementary neuropsychological perspective. I also demonstrate how the syntax of network competence emerges a priori during early postnatal life and is followed by the later development of network performance that enables rapid encoding and memory consolidation. Thus, I propose that this generative grammar of the brain is essential for internally generated representations, which are crucial for the cognitive processes underlying learning and memory, prospection, and inference, which ultimately underlie our reason and representation of the world.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/s41583-023-00763-0

Cites

161 of 161 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Visuo-spatial imagery is the skill that is maximally correlated with dream recall in adults.

    “Visuo-spatial imagery is also the skill that is maximally correlated with dream recall in adults308 and, in children, imagery and dream recall develop hand in hand257.”

    From Consciousness and sleep (2024) · cites this paper as [308]

    The ‘Network preconfiguration and neuronal selection in the hippocampus’ section discusses impaired dreaming content after bilateral hippocampal damage, but not dream recall or its correlation with visuo-spatial imagery in adults. Searches for visuo-spatial imagery and dream-recall correlations found no passage addressing that claim in our copy. The separate claim about children is attached to a different citation. (LLM, conf=0.74)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. [3]Leibniz G New Essays on Human Understanding (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1765).
  2. [4]Kant I Critique of Pure Reason (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1781).
  3. [12]Landsteiner K The Specificity of Serological Reactions (Howard Univ. Press, 1947).
  4. [16]Edelman G Neural Darwinism: The Theory Of Neuronal Group Selection (Basic Books, 1987). 17842436
  5. [25]O’Keefe J & Nadel L The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map (Oxford Univ. Press, 1978).
  6. [96]Mueller-Vollmer K & Messling M in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2022 Edition) (Ed. Zalta EN) (2022).
  7. [138]Hebb DO The Organization of Behavior: A Neuropsychological Theory (Wiley, 1949).
  8. [159]Farooq U & Dragoi G Geometry of space sculpts hippocampal sequential place cell assemblies during development. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 324, 15 (2022).

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Dragoi, G.
Affiliations
Yale University (US)
Corresponding author
Dragoi, George
Venue
Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Published
2023-11-30
Volume
25
Issue
1
Pages
60-75
ISSN
  • 1471-003X (ISSN-L)
  • 1471-0048
OpenAlex
W4389167278
Cited by
28
References
159
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 1
FWCI
1.05
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature reviews. Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH121372)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS104917, R35NS132342)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
Keywords
hippocampus, memory consolidation, memory replay, spontaneous neuronal activity, sequence generation, postnatal development, learning, memory encoding
MeSH terms
Brain, Hippocampus, Humans, Learning, Neurons, Neural Networks, Computer

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review