neerupealisation

Neerupealisation is a term used primarily in speculative neuroscience and science fiction to describe a proposed neural process in which persistent or salient sensory input gradually reduces the efficacy of a targeted neural network, allowing other circuits to assume greater processing responsibility. In this framing, neerupealisation functions as a mechanism of adaptive remapping of cortical resources.

In theoretical models, neerupealisation involves activity-dependent synaptic depression and homeostatic plasticity, aided by shifts in inhibitory control and receptor regulation that dampen dominant pathways. The process is imagined to occur across short timescales in learning contexts and may interact with attention and neuromodulation to guide reorganization.

Origin and usage: The term has no broad consensus in established neuroscience and appears chiefly in speculative discussions and fiction. It is named to evoke neural adaptation and to distinguish from established mechanisms such as synaptic scaling, long-term depression, and predictive coding.

Implications: As a hypothetical construct, neerupealisation provides a framework for simulating rapid cortical remapping and recovery after sensory injury in computational models. Critics argue that without empirical support, it risks conflating conjecture with mechanism; researchers rely on documented plasticity processes to explain similar phenomena.

See also: Neuroplasticity; Synaptic scaling; Long-term depression; Homeostatic plasticity; Sensory adaptation.