Abstract
The data we have by now accumulated on the cytoarchitectonics of the cerebral cortex, as well as published data, suggest that some of the neurons are structurally combined into compact clusters (ensembles, blocks), and that the majority of them participate in the construction of these clusters by directing the terminal branches of their axons to them. The collaterals of projection, associative, and callosal nerve cells, as well as the axons of interneurons which accomplish local interneuronal closures, can combine individual elements of the ensembles into a unified morphofunctional system. The collaterals of the axons of a block of neurons spread divergently to neurons disposed along the perimeter, while the axons of the latter converge reciprocally to the neurons of the cluster, forming a maximum (focus) of the arborization of the axonal terminals there; this makes it possible actively to isolate modules of nerve cells by accomplishing their selfassembly.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
V. P. Babmindra, T. A. Bragina, I. P. Ionov, and N. R. Nurtdinov,Structure and Models of Neuronal Complexes of the Brain [in Russian], Nauka, Leningrad (1988).
A. A. Ukhtomskii,Selected Works [in Russian], Nauka, Leningrad (1978).
D. Hubel and T. Wiesel, “The central mechanisms of vision,” in:The Brain [Russsian translation], Mir, Moscow (1982).
V. A. Cherkes,Brain Structures or Neuronal Networks? [in Russian], Naukova Dumka, Kiev (1988).
O. G. Chorayan, “The neuronal ensemble,”Uspekhi Fiziol. Nauk,20, No. 2, 75–95 (1989).
G. Shepherd,Neurobiology, Vol. 2 [Russsian translation], Mir, Moscow (1980).
A. S. Vatuev,Higher Integrative Systems of the Brain, New York (1987).
E. Chudler, R. Nahin, and D. Kenshalo, “Distribution and size of GABAergic neurons in area 7b of the monkey,”Brain Res.,481, No. 2, 383–387 (1989).
J. De Filipe, S. Hendry, and E. G. Jones, “Synapses of double bouquet cells in monkey cerebral cortex visualized by calbindin immunoreactivity,”Brain Res.,501, No. 1, 49–54 (1989).
J. C. Eccles, “The modular operation of the cerebral cortex,”Neurosci.,6, No. 10, 1839–1855 (1981).
J. C. Eccles, “Some circuit operations in the mammalian brain,”Acta Anat.,113, No. 2, 325–339 (1982).
C. M. Edelman and V. B. Mountcastle,The Mindful Brain, MIT Press, London (1978).
C. Gilbert and T. Wiesel, “Clustered intrinsic connections of cat visual cortex,”J. Neurosci.,3, No. 3, 1116–1133 (1983).
R. Giuffrida and A. Rustioni, “Glutamate and aspartate immunoreactivity in neurons of the sensorimotor cortex of rats,”Exptl Brain Res.,74, No. 1, 41–46 (1989).
D. O. Hebb,The Organization of Behavior, Wiley, New York (1941).
L. C. Katz, C. Gilbert, and T. Wiesel, “Local circuits and ocular dominance columns in monkey striate cortex,”J. Neurosci.,9, No. 4, 1389–1399 (1989).
C. Malsburg and W. Singer, “Principles of cortical network organization,” in:Neurobiology of the Neocortex, J. Wiley and Sons, Chichester, New York (1988), pp. 69–99.
K. Martin, M. Frieglander, and V. Alones, “Physiological, morphological and cytochemical characteristics of layer I neurons in cat cerebral cortex,”J. Comp. Neurol.,282, No. 3, 404–444 (1989).
J. Szentagothai, “The ‘Module-concept’ in cerebral architecture,”Brain Res.,85, No. 2, 475–496 (1975).
J. Szentagothai, “The neuron network of the cerebral cortex: a functional interpretation,”Proc. Roy. Soc.,201, 219–248 (1988).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel'nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 221–230, February–March, 1991.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Batuev, A.S., Babmindra, V.P. & Kolla, G.V. Modules of cortical neurons and their “self-assembly”. Neurosci Behav Physiol 22, 85–91 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01192379
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01192379