Editing Neural Darwinism (section)

=== Necessary criteria for a selectionist theory of higher brain function ===

Edelman's first theoretical contribution to neural Darwinism came in 1978, when he proposed his ''group selection and phasic reentrant signalling''.{{sfn|Mountcastle|Edelman|1978|loc=Group Selection and Phasic Reentrant Signalling: A Theory of Higher Brain Function|p=51–100}} Edelman lays out five necessary requirements that a biological theory of higher brain function must satisfy.{{sfn|Mountcastle|Edelman|1978|p=52}}

* The theory should be consistent with the fields of embryology, neuroanatomy, and neurophysiology.
* The theory should account for learning and memory, and temporal recall in a distributed system.
* The theory should account how memory is updated on the basis of realtime experience.
* The theory should account for how higher brain systems mediate experience and action.
* The theory should account for the necessary, if not sufficient, conditions for the emergence of awareness.