Neurobiology of Cognitive Learning

Abstract

In the brain information is coded into sequences of impulses which are unit responses travelling from neurones or nerve cells along nerve fibres. The neural code is equivalent to a Morse code of dots only in a great variety of temporal patterns and with thousands of connections in parallel. Fig. 1A is a diagram of four neurones of the cerebral cortex showing the branches from their axons making close contact with dendritic spines of other neurones. In Fig. 1B there is a greatly enlarged drawing of a spine synapse showing the presynaptic ending or bouton in close synaptic contact with a dendritic spine across the synaptic cleft and filled with small vesicles containing the synaptic transmitter substance, which is glutamate for the excitatory synapses of the cerebral cortex.four neurones of the cerebral cortex showing the branches from their axons making close contact with dendritic spines of other neurones. In Fig. 1B there is a greatly enlarged drawing of a spine synapse showing the presynaptic ending or bouton in close synaptic contact with a dendritic spine across the synaptic cleft and filled with small vesicles containing the synaptic transmitter substance, which is glutamate for the excitatory synapses of the cerebral cortex.