Communication and computation in the central nervous system.
Some aspects of the communicational and computational features of the central nervous system (CNS) are presented. We have suggested the existence in the CNS of two types of electrochemical transmission, namely the wiring transmission (WT) and the volume transmission (VT), where WT is the classical type of neural transmission based on the physical substrate of neural chains, whereas VT consists of chemical signals diffusing in the extracellular fluid and reaching receptors on neuronal cells located far away from the signal release site. Experimental data supporting this hypothesis as well as the functional characteristics of both types of transmission are reported.
Institute of Human Physiology, University of Modena, Italy.
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D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000502:physiology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*
D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents