DOI: 10.1098/rstb.1956.0012. Properties of a mass of cells capable of regenerating pulses

Properties of a mass of cells capable of regenerating pulses

10.1098/rstb.1956.0012

Crossref journal-article

The Royal Society

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences (175)

Abstract

Cells having some properties similar to those of neurons are considered. A mass of such cells, randomly placed together with a uniform volume density, appears capable of supporting various simple forms of activity, including plane waves, spherical and circular waves and vortex effects. The propagation of a plane wave of activity has been considered in some detail. It is shown that a wave may be initiated in a mass of such cells by a number of individual stimuli. The mass has a very sensitive threshold to such stimulation. This threshold depends on cell properties, and by altering the threshold a mass of cells may be made to act as an on/off switch. The switching of waves may be compared with the shifting of attention in a living organism. Particularly interesting phenomena emerge if some property of the individual cells, e.g. size, extent of axon or dendrite structure, or threshold, changes with repeated use. The mass of cells may then exhibit an ability to modify its response according to past experience in a manner similar to that of living organisms. Trial and error learning, conditioned responses, and the ability to regenerate internally a sequence of past events may be demonstrated with very little complication of the form of the mass of cells.

Bibliography

Properties of a mass of cells capable of regenerating pulses. (1956). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 240(669), 55â94.

Authors 0

None

References 22 Referenced 254

10.1007/BF02478343
10.1016/0013-4694(50)90085-X
Beurle R. L. 1954 Radar Research Establishment Memorandum no. 1042.
Burns B. D. 1951 J.Physiol. 112 156. (10.1113/jphysiol.1951.sp004517)
Chang H. T. 1951 J .Neurophysiol. 14 1. (10.1049/jiee-2.1951.0002)
Cragg E. G. & Temperley H. N. V. 1 9 5 4 Electroenceph. Clin. Neurophysiol. 6 85-92. (10.1016/0013-4694(54)90008-5)
Eccles J. C. 1953 The neurophysiological basis of mind. Oxford University Press.
10.1038/167466a0
{'issue': '3', 'key': 'p_23', 'first-page': '493', 'article-title': 'Amer', 'volume': '176', 'author': 'Lilly C.', 'year': '1954', 'journal-title': 'J. Physiol.'} / J. Physiol. / Amer by Lilly C. (1954)
Lorente de No R. 1943 In Physiology of the nervous system by J . F. Fulton 2 nd ed. pp. 304 and 307. Oxford University Press.
10.1007/BF02478259
10.1007/BF02478248
10.1007/BF02478355
10.1007/BF02478324
10.1007/BF02477926
10.1038/171387a0
{'key': 'p_31', 'first-page': '33', 'article-title': 'J . Anat', 'volume': '1', 'author': 'Sholl D. A.', 'year': '1955', 'journal-title': 'Lond., 89, Part'} / Lond., 89, Part / J . Anat by Sholl D. A. (1955)
10.1038/171387a0
10.1098/rspb.1955.0054
Uttley A. M. 1 9 5 6 In Automata studies edited by C. E. Shannon and J . M cCarthy (in course of publication).
{'issue': '2', 'key': 'p_35', 'first-page': '155', 'volume': '87', 'author': 'Walter W.', 'year': '1952', 'journal-title': 'Rev. Neurol.'} / Rev. Neurol. by Walter W. (1952)
10.1016/0013-4694(51)90074-0

Dates

Type	When
Created	18 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 18, 2006, 5:23 p.m.)
Deposited	4 years, 11 months ago (Sept. 17, 2020, 6:10 a.m.)
Indexed	1 month ago (Aug. 6, 2025, 9:31 a.m.)
Issued	69 years ago (Aug. 23, 1956)
Published	69 years ago (Aug. 23, 1956)
Published Online	28 years, 8 months ago (Jan. 1, 1997)
Published Print	69 years ago (Aug. 23, 1956)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{1956, volume={240}, ISSN={2054-0280}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1956.0012}, DOI={10.1098/rstb.1956.0012}, number={669}, journal={Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences}, publisher={The Royal Society}, year={1956}, month=aug, pages={55–94} }

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