This essay looks at the historical significance of three APS classic papers that are freely available online: Leão AAP. Spreading depression of activity in the cerebral cortex. J Neurophysiol 7: 359–390, 1944 (http://jn.physiology.org/cgi/reprint/7/6/359). Leão AAP. Pial circulation and spreading depression of activity in the cerebral cortex. J Neurophysiol 7: 391–396, 1944 (http://jn.physiolog...

The dynamics of neuronal activity of the so-called association zones of the parietal regions of the cerebral cortex in the sleep-wakefulness cycle has been studied in chronic cats. It is conjectured that the changes in neuronal activity of the association zones of the parietal regions of the cerebral cortex over sleep-wakefulness cycle display the dynamics of cognitive processes, which on their...

In 1870 Gustav Fritsch and Edvard Hitzig showed that electrical stimulation of the cerebral cortex of a dog produced movements. This was a crucial event in the development of modern neuroscience because it was the first good experimental evidence for a) cerebral cortex involvement in motor function, b) the electrical excitability of the cortex, c) topographic representation in the brain, and d)...

Ensuring coordination of the nervous system functioning, communication between various structures, adjusting the functions to the changes in internal and external environment depends on processing of substantial amount of information (Groenewegen, 2007; Groenewegen & van Dongen, 2007). The concept of cortico-subcortical loops is one of the explanations of the physiological control of the majori...

Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured using PET and H2(15)O in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with predominantly right-sided akinetic-rigid symptoms and in control subjects during the execution of an externally cued motor task either with the left or the right hand. During the execution of the task with the left, non-akinetic, hand, cerebral activation in PD patients appeared simi...

The positioning of neurons in the cerebral cortex is of crucial importance for its function as highlighted by the severe consequences of migrational disorders in patients. Here we show that genetic deletion of the small GTPase RhoA in the developing cerebral cortex results in two migrational disorders: subcortical band heterotopia (SBH), a heterotopic cortex underlying the normotopic cortex, an...

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is characterized by supranuclear palsy of gaze, axial dystonia, bradykinesia, rigidity, and a progressive dementia. Pathological changes in this disorder are generally restricted to subcortical structures, yet the type and range of cognitive deficits suggest the involvement of many cerebral regions. We examined the extent of functional impairment to cerebral...

It has been known for many years that specific regions of the working cerebral cortex display periodic variations in correlated cellular activity. While the olfactory system has been the focus of much of this work, similar behavior has recently been observed in primary visual cortex. We have developed models of both the olfactory and visual cortex which replicate the observed oscillatory proper...

BACKGROUND The neural correlates of suicidal ideation and its reduction after treatment are unknown. We hypothesized that increased regional cerebral glucose metabolism in the infralimbic cortex (Brodmann area 25), amygdala, and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex would be associated with suicidal ideation and its reduction after ketamine infusion. METHODS Medication-free patients (n=19) with...