Metabolic considerations point to specialised and analogue computation in the brain
1University of Warwick, UKchris@cspres.co.uk.
The Behavioral and Brain Sciences
|October 2, 2026
Abstract:
Metabolic considerations are argued to drive cognitive models. I explore the related high-level hypothesis that the brain favours the most anatomically specialised system that still meets demands for computational flexibility in a given task. The hypothesis points to specific claims across a hierarchy of specialisation, from inter-neuronal connection structure to neuronal cell structure, through to non-neuronal cells and analogue mechanisms.
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