The Retina as Model for the Functional Organization of the Nervous System

The unclassical characteristics of the S-potentials have been puzzling from the very beginning, and the demonstration of their glial origin increased the problems necessitating a revision of the conventional neurophysiological concepts. In the course of the attempts to give an interpretation of our experimental findings concerning the glial cell behavior in correlation to ordinary neurophysiological views, it became evident that for any explanation of a normal organized neuronal activity whatever, it is obligatory to take into account the close and permanent relationship existing between metabolism and the electrical potentials. The present paper represents a preliminary and very short exposition of our working hypothesis which offers a general interpretation of a possible functional organization of the nervous system. This presentation is based on : 1. the experimental data collected since 1953 on the electrophysiology of the glial cells (partly still unpublished), 2. an extensive panoramic review of comparative physiology and related fields and 3. a superficial attempt to apply concepts from the communication theory on the studies of the nervous system. Under these circumstances this analysis does not pretend to be either detailed or conclusive, since more time is needed to digest and present the large amount of information which has been gathered concerning the integrative function of neurons, receptors and glial cells.