English

On Brain as a Mathematical Manifold: Neural Manifolds, Sheaf Semantics, and Leibnizian Harmony

Neurons and Cognition 2026-01-23 v1

Abstract

We present a mathematical and philosophical framework in which brain function is modeled using sheaf theory over neural state spaces. Local neural or cognitive functions are represented as sections of a sheaf, while global coherence corresponds to the existence of global sections. Brain pathologies are interpreted as obstructions to such global integration and are classified using tools from sheaf cohomology. The framework builds on the neural manifold program in contemporary neuroscience and on standard results in sheaf theory, and is further interpreted through a Leibnizian lens \cite{Churchland2012, Leibniz1714, MacLaneMoerdijk, Perich2025}. This paper is intended as a conceptual and formal proposal rather than a complete empirical theory.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.15320,
  title  = {On Brain as a Mathematical Manifold: Neural Manifolds, Sheaf Semantics, and Leibnizian Harmony},
  author = {Takao Inoué},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.15320},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

17 pages with 2 figures; a sheaf-theoretic model of neural integration and pathology, with an application to the interpretation of Leibnizian harmony