The hypothesis is introduced that miniaturization of neuronal circuits in the central nervous system and the hierarchical organization of the various levels, where information handling can take place, may be the key to understand the enormous capability of the human brain to store engrams as well as its astonishing capacity to reconstruct and organize engrams and thus to perform highly sophisticated integrations. The concept is also proposed that in order to understand the relationship between the structural and functional plasticity of the central nervous system it is necessary to postulate the existence of memory storage at the network level, at the local circuit level, at the synaptic level, at the membrane level, and finally at the molecular level. Thus, memory organization is similar to the hierarchical organization of the various levels, where information handling takes place in the nervous system. In addition, each higher level plays a role in the reconstruction and organization of the engrams stored at lower levels. Thus, the trace of the functionally stored memory (i.e. its reconstruction and organization at various levels of storage) will depend not only on the chemicophysical changes in the membranes of the local circuits but also on the organization of the local circuits themselves and their associated neuronal networks.
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Research Article|
February 01 1984
New concepts on the structure of the neuronal networks: The miniaturization and hierarchical organization of the central nervous system*: Hypothesis
Luigi F. Agnati;
Luigi F. Agnati
1Department of Human Physiology, University of Modena, Modena, Italy; and Department of Histology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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Kjell Fuxe
Kjell Fuxe
1Department of Human Physiology, University of Modena, Modena, Italy; and Department of Histology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
January 05 1984
Online ISSN: 1573-4935
Print ISSN: 0144-8463
© 1984 The Biochemical Society
1984
Biosci Rep (1984) 4 (2): 93–98.
Article history
Received:
January 05 1984
Citation
Luigi F. Agnati, Kjell Fuxe; New concepts on the structure of the neuronal networks: The miniaturization and hierarchical organization of the central nervous system: Hypothesis. Biosci Rep 1 February 1984; 4 (2): 93–98. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01120304
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