Quite interesting. Maass (senior author) has done some pioneering work on Liquid State Machines and Echo state networks (LSTMs/RNNs). In this paper they define

Quite interesting. Maass (senior author) has done some pioneering work on Liquid State Machines and Echo state networks (LSTMs/RNNs). In this paper they define a formal system intended to model the computations underlying cognitive functions that is done via an "assembly", a set of excitatory neurons all belonging to the same brain area, and capable of near-simultaneous firing. The main assumption in their model that I do not agree with is that of random synaptic wiring of the circuits. There is considerable research that argues that synaptic connectivity is not random but specific in several ways [0,1]. [0] Sporns O. (2011). The non-random brain: efficiency, economy, and complex dynamics. Front. Comput. Neurosci. 5:5 10.3389/fncom.2011.00005 [1] Motta et al. (2019) https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6469/eaay3134' https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6469/eaay3134'