title: General properties of the resource consumption principle of neural function.
abstract: It has been proposed that volumes of neural tissue may represent important processing elements. This viewpoint suggests one way that populations of synaptic elements cooperate to implement important computational capacities. I extend this view by proposing a set of computational functions for the extracellular space shared by a local population of synapses. The critical hypothesis is the existence of a hypothetical 'fluid' resource present outside synapses that must be internalized in order for a synapse to function. I outline some of the consequences of assuming that such a resource is in limited supply on short time scales.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Montague
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000502:physiology*; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D011336:Probability; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*