Neuronal Potential: Actualisation and Individuation: 1 Preconditions of Neuronal Actualisation and Selection — Structuring Neural Potential

The brain exists as a field of neuronal potential, structured by genetics, development, and synaptic architecture. Actualisation and individuation in neural systems are not arbitrary; they are conditioned by the relational and semiotic field that precedes any neuronal activation, providing the landscape in which specific ensembles can emerge, differentiate, and stabilise.

1. The Landscape of Neural Potential

Potential neuronal groups are encoded in genetic programs, developmental pathways, and synaptic configurations. This landscape defines which ensembles can instantiate as instantial patterns of activity. Even before any ensemble is active, this potential is fully real, structured, and constrained.

2. Constraints and Affordances

Constraints in neural systems guide which ensembles can activate: synaptic connectivity, inhibitory/excitatory balances, and neuromodulatory influences provide channels for activation. Affordances — the degrees of freedom within these constraints — allow multiple possible activations, giving rise to diverse neuronal instances.

3. Perspectival Frames

Actual neuronal activations depend on relational frames: recurrent network activity, ongoing patterns, and feedback loops create contexts in which certain ensembles are selectable and stabilisable. These frames act as vantage points, making certain potentials instantial while leaving others latent.

4. Stability Scaffolds

For a neuronal instance to persist and influence the system, stability scaffolds are required: reinforced synapses, recurrent connectivity, and modulatory signals stabilise activation patterns, allowing them to exert systemic influence.

5. Relational Grounding

Neuronal actualisation and individuation are embedded in relational networks. Each ensemble emerges in relation to other groups, developmental history, and ongoing activity. Potential and instantial patterns are mutually constitutive, where differentiation and stability arise relationally rather than autonomously.

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In sum, the preconditions for neuronal actualisation and individuation are complex, relational, and perspectival. Neural potential is always real, but instances — activated ensembles — emerge only where structural constraints, relational framing, and stabilising mechanisms converge. Cognition and perception are therefore grounded in a field structured for the emergence of differentiable, stable neural instances.