Top-down brain function refers to the ability of higher functions of the brain being able to control/ effect the lower functions of our brain.

This is probably the easiest way to distinguish why humans are fundamentally different then animals in terms of brain function. Animals in general are almost entirely slaves to classical conditioning. The environment effects them, they produce conditioned responses to their environment based on need and that is pretty much the end of it. Humans, while still very much susceptible to conditioning, as is seen particularly in casinos that condition people with constant positive reinforcement by displaying people winning money, yet we are not entirely slaves to our environment. Humans have the ability to use higher brain functions as a way of potentially determining what they want to do with the environmental information they receive. In addition to this we have the ability to use our brains to entirely create totally internal conditioning processes. This higher brain function is what allows us in the end to shape our minds (with a few restrictions perhaps) into what we want them to be.

Commonly referred to as metaprograming this process is the essential process to human progress in the future. The only problem with this process is that it requires a tremendous amount of discipline to take full advantages of such features of our brain. Because of this I believe that next step in intelligent evolution revolves around this concept. The next step being that of our brain becoming more susceptible to internal conditioning making it easier for a brain to mold itself quickly and effectively.

These types of recursive processes is what is essential in the universe. The advent of the ability for an object to learn and eventually change the very nature of itself seems to be in some way or another to be the purpose of existence and even suggests that anything, large or small could gain this ability or has some intrinsic ability to do this already. Perhaps this is the essence of will or even the essence of the universe.

More study on this is needed for sure.