How useful is neural oscillation entrainment?

I've been struggling with this question for a while.  I haven't looked at it deeply.  It's more like a nagging ache that I've been meaning to examine closely at some point.  Here's the basic observation/idea in the auditory domain: -Observation #1: Neural oscillations tend to entrain in the phase of their response to periodic stimuli.-Observation #2: Many natural sounds, such as speech, are quasi periodic.-The Claim: Oscillation entrainment facilitates perception by synching periods of maximal neural sensitivity to temporal windows in the stimulus stream that contain the most useful information.I like this idea.  It is a reasonable idea.  I don't know if it is correct.  The alternative possibility, given the two observations is that neurons and neural networks oscillate just because--i.e., build a network with excitatory-inhibitory interactions, balance them so you don't get runaway excitation or constant suppression, and it tends to oscillate and will tend to reset it's phase with inputs (this is a fact, btw).  On this alternative possibility, phase-locked oscillations are more of a by product of network design, not something that was selected for to enhance perception.  In fact, it's conceivable that phase locking to a stimulus could actually interfere with neural signal processing, although not sufficiently to preclude the systems useful as a signal processor. So what we need to show to decide whether oscillation entrainment is a des...
Source: Talking Brains - Category: Neurologists Authors: Source Type: blogs