> it is unknown the degree to which it contributes to standard computations and processing within different neural systems And that is not even the topic of th

> it is unknown the degree to which it contributes to standard computations and processing within different neural systems And that is not even the topic of the article: "the present study shows that the in-vitro slow periodic activity, mediated by the NMDA spikes, can propagate non-synaptically by a mechanism consistent with ephaptic coupling. This study implies that the effect of ephaptic coupling could play an important role in the propagation of neural activity under normal physiological conditions as well as pathological situations." Important: "slow periodic activity" Also important: it's in vitro: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro "In vitro (meaning: in the glass) studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments"..." What's new: "Results support the hypothesis that endogenous electric fields, previously thought to be too small to trigger neural activity, play a significant role in the self-propagation of slow periodic activity in the hippocampus." In short, they claim to have proved that under some special conditions the propagation can happen even by what was believed to be too small fields. But as it's the first paper about that, it's reasonable for the observers to wait for other scientists to repeat the experiment and review the details of it... before making any conclusions.