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Science 12 September 1986:
Vol. 233. no. 4769, pp. 1167 - 1175
DOI: 10.1126/science.3488590
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Articles

Science, Vol 233, Issue 4769, 1167-1175
Copyright © 1986 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Double-labeled metabolic maps of memory

ER John, Y Tang, AB Brill, R Young, and K Ono

The physical changes representing a memory are believed to be localized to specific neurons, widely distributed in multiple parallel pathways in the brain. 2-Fluorodeoxyglucose, labeled with two discriminable radioactive tracers, was used to construct quantitative metabolic maps in split-brain cats during a visual task. One side of the brain served to estimate the metabolic variability of nonspecific influences. The other side was used to map metabolic changes related to the presence of previously learned visual cues, as well as changes related to nonspecific influences, in the same periods of time. When the two sides were compared, between 5 million and 100 million neurons (depending upon the significance level selected) were identified in which activity increased during presentation of the familiar cues. The wide distribution of these neurons throughout the brain is compatible with prior evidence of a distributed memory system. However, the large number of neurons involved is difficult to reconcile with theories in which individual neurons are dedicated to specific memories.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Do 15 million cat neurons mediate the memory of a circle and a star?.
F. NOTTEBOHM and H. WILLIAMS (1987)
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Do 15 Million Cat Neurons Mediate the Memory of a Circle and a Star?.
D. L. MCEACHRON, C. R. GALLISTEL, and P. J. HAND (1987)
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