Cortical gamma oscillations: the functional key is activation, not cognition

► Generic neural control is distinguished from the cognitive operations it supports. ► Cortical gamma oscillations are an activation-related generic control function. ► This generic role of gamma suffices to account for its covariation with cognition. ► The evidence for “binding-by-synchrony” is accounted for in these terms. ► There is no compelling evidence for gamma oscillations as a cognitive operator.