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| Research article summary (published 29 Jun 2003): |
Genes, neurons and codes: remarks on biological communication.
Full Abstract
I examine critically the application of information-theoretic ideas to biological communication during embryonic development and in the functioning central nervous system (CNS). I show that intercellular communication relies mostly on simple signals whose role is to effect a selection among predetermined cellular states. Hence, a crucial role is played by cellular memory, which stabilizes such states. Memory in cells is partly located in the nuclear DNA; no less important however is (phenotypic) memory lying in the cell's organelles and compartments. Because of combinatorial effects in gene expression patterns, cell memory is an enormously powerful mechanism, which also underlies plasticity, and thus constitutes the factor unifying genetic determination, plasticity and learning. Communication in the CNS is analyzed in some detail:
here, cellular memory is embodied in anatomy (i.e., cell shape) and neurochemistry. These are the major, relatively "static" factors affecting the routing of neural impulses in the adult CNS. In addition, however, faster channeling is also required:
action potentials must be directed to their targets along a few of exponentially many paths, and this dynamic routing is crucial for proper operation. I suggest that collective oscillatory modes may play a role in solving this addressing problem, in the same way that the clock signal gates the operation of man-made computers.Copyright 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Author information
Author/s: Kerszberg, Michel (M);
Affiliation: Récepteurs et Cognition, Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Docteur Roux, F-75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. mkersz@pasteur.fr
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Review
Journal: BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology (Bioessays), published in United States. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2003-Jul; vol 25 (issue 7) : pp 699-708
Dates: Created 2003/06/19; Completed 2003/10/10; Revised 2006/11/15;
PMID: 12815725, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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