Posterior cortical hot zone

The sensory component (shape, color, texture) of each object stored in memory is physically encoded by neurons of the posterior cortical hot zone in structures called neuronal ensembles (NEs), neuronal assemblies,[3] neural cliques,[4] or cognits.[5] When one recalls any object, the object-encoding neuronal ensemble (objectNE) in the posterior cortical hot zone activates into synchronous resonant activity that results in conscious perception of the object. The objectNE binding mechanism, based on the Hebbian principle “neurons that fire together, wire together,” came to be known as the Binding-by-Synchrony hypothesis.[6]

While the Hebbian principle explains how we perceive a familiar object, it does not explain the infinite number of novel objects that humans can imagine. To account for the limitless constructive imagination, it was proposed that synchronization of independent objectNEs is a general mechanism underlying any novel imaginary experience.[7] When the synchronization of independent objectNEs is driven from the front by the lateral prefrontal cortex, we refer to it as Prefrontal Synthesis; when the synchronization is driven from the back, we refer to it as dreaming or hallucination.