  This paper proposes that the thalamus is the site of a wave excitation, whose
function is to represent the locations of things around the animal. Neurons
couple to the wave as transmitters and receivers. The wave acts as an analogue
representation of local space. This has benefits over a purely neural
representation of space. Several lines of evidence support this hypothesis;
both theoretical, concerning efficient Bayesian inference in the brain, and
empirical, concerning the neuro-anatomy of the thalamus. Across all species,
the most basic function of the brain is to coordinate movements in space. To
represent positions in space only by neural firing rates would be complex and
inefficient. It is possible that that the brain represents 3D space in a direct
and natural way, by a 3D wave
