Of what interlocking networks does the brain consist?

Leslie Haley Wasserman and Debby Zambo are coeditors of a book called Early Childhood and Neuroscience: Links to Development and Learning.In their book, Wasserman and Zambo explain that the brain is composed of neurons. Neurons is the scientific name for “nerve cells”.  The brain is split into two hemispheres. Each hemisphere is subdivided into lobes. Each lobe is associated with a different task. Wasserman and Zambo explain that these lobes are connected by interlocking...

Leslie Haley Wasserman and Debby Zambo are coeditors of a book called Early Childhood and Neuroscience: Links to Development and Learning. In their book, Wasserman and Zambo explain that the brain is composed of neurons. Neurons is the scientific name for “nerve cells”.  The brain is split into two hemispheres. Each hemisphere is subdivided into lobes. Each lobe is associated with a different task. Wasserman and Zambo explain that these lobes are connected by interlocking networks of neurons. These interlocking networks of neurons enable complex tasks such as memorization, forethought, and the coordination of muscles.  

The Roots of Backpropagation: From Ordered Derivatives to Neural Networks and Political Forecasting by Paul John Werbos explains that the mammalian brain is divided into three interlocking networks of brain cells. These networks and their functions are identified and briefly explained below:

1. John explains that the limbic network calculates system values and is the “basis for reinforcing actions.


2. John’s second network is called the corticothalamic system that works to create “a model of the external environment”.


3. John’s last network is the brain stem. John explains that the brain stem “directly controls actions in response to what is known about the external environment”.