Mental Murmuration: A Metaphor for the Workings of the Brain
Psychology Today | 28.01.2026 02:05
Employing the suggestive metaphor of neuroscientist Luiz Pessoa, David Brooks, in the New York Times, describes neural processing as “a flock of swirling starlings,” otherwise known as a murmuration. That metaphor alludes to the continuously changing patterns of activation across the plethora of complex, interconnected neuronal networks that populate both the cerebral cortex and the brain’s various subcortical structures. Such networks can contain anywhere from dozens to many tens of thousands of neurons. Those networks integrate inputs about:
