Connectivity in the Human Cerebral Cortex: A Fundamental Problem and a Possible Explanation for the Cognitive Power of Vertebrates.

Abstract

Recent electron microscopy reveals that weak synaptic connectivity predominates in the human cerebral cortex, raising the question of how information is transmitted by action potentials in these neural networks. Differences in field potential oscillations (brainwaves) and glia between vertebrates and invertebrates provide a possible answer that can also account for the incomparable increase in the cognitive ability of vertebrates.