Parallel distributed processing, also known as connectionism and neural networks, asserts that instead of being able to pin point an area in the brain where items are stored we can think of those items as being dispersed throughout specific sections of the brain (more specifically, the cerebral cortex) and connected through node. These nodes are inter-connectedly linked together through brain activity and form networks. These networks link cognitive processes together in neuron-like components. This means that instead of thinking of brain activity as happening one-step-at-a-time, we can instead begin to understand that these processes are happening simultaneously.