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Abstract

Why is the cortex so difficult to understand? Although we know enormous amounts of detailed information about the neurons that make up the cortex, placing this information back into context of the behaving animal is a serious challenge. In this chapter, we aim to outline some recent technical advances that may light the way toward the chase for the functional ensemble. We summarize the progress that has been made using optical recording approaches with a view to what can be expected in the near future, given the recent technological advances. The modeling and theoretical arguments surrounding neuronal ensembles have been described in great detail previously (Palm, 1982; Braitenberg, 1978; Gerstein et al., 1989; Harris, 2005; Mountcastle, 1997, 2003; Wickens and Miller, 1997), so we will not review them here.