Overview

Contributions to the theory of multineuronal circuits have, up until now, not had much effect on the thinking of neuroscientists, with the possible exception of Hebba (TM)s (1949) book, which introduced the Hebbian synapse modification rule and the idea of cell assemblies. Simulation work on large networks (see for instance von der Malsburg, 1973; Palm, 1982) has been more successful; but simulation has never been a substitute for the classical theoretical method, where consequences are transparently obtained from assumptions. As a result of these considerations an attempt is made here to develop a new way to obtain theoretical results in brain research.

Schematically speaking, the approach amounts to a top-down parsing of brain function, where known features of the system are broken down to tasks addressed by subsystems, and those to tasks addressed by smaller subsystems, eventually reaching the level of the neurons. The gradual breakdown of tasks to the level of the neurons leads to a neuron model less simple than the one we are used to from the classical theoretical papers. The neuron is still a threshold device, as it has to be; but it is capable of various modes of operation. In the different modes the volleys arriving to the neuron from various neuron pools interact differently and have different effects. In addition the neuron, or possibly its surrounding system of satellite cells, is responsive to certain statistically significant ( surprising ) features of the multi-channel input stream, and interprets these as instructions to change the operating mode.

The present monograph is intended to be conceptually self-contained, in the sense that all theoreticalconcepts on which it builds are described in the text. Some of these concepts have been around for a long time; in particular the cell assembly (Hebb, 1949; LegA(c)ndy, 1967), ignition (Rapoport, 1952; LegA(c)ndy, 1967), and surprise (LegA(c)ndy, 1970a; LegA(c)ndy, 1975; Palm, 1981). In addition to these and some others introduced below, the discussion builds on sequences of drawings; it contains no mathematics.

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