Bullock T H
Department of Neurosciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0201, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Jan 7;94(1):1-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.94.1.1.
The dichotomy between two groups of workers on neuroelectrical activity is retarding progress. To study the interrelations between neuronal unit spike activity and compound field potentials of cell populations is both unfashionable and technically challenging. Neither of the mutual disparagements is justified: that spikes are to higher functions as the alphabet is to Shakespeare and that slow field potentials are irrelevant epiphenomena. Spikes are not the basis of the neural code but of multiple codes that coexist with nonspike codes. Field potentials are mainly information-rich signs of underlying processes, but sometimes they are also signals for neighboring cells, that is, they exert influence. This paper concerns opportunities for new research with many channels of wide-band (spike and slow wave) recording. A wealth of structure in time and three-dimensional space is different at each scale-micro-, meso-, and macroactivity. The depth of our ignorance is emphasized to underline the opportunities for uncovering new principles. We cannot currently estimate the relative importance of spikes and synaptic communication vs. extrasynaptic graded signals. In spite of a preponderance of literature on the former, we must consider the latter as probably important. We are in a primitive stage of looking at the time series of wide-band voltages in the compound, local field, potentials and of choosing descriptors that discriminate appropriately among brain loci, states (functions), stages (ontogeny, senescence), and taxa (evolution). This is not surprising, since the brains in higher species are surely the most complex systems known. They must be the greatest reservoir of new discoveries in nature. The complexity should not deter us, but a dose of humility can stimulate the flow of imaginative juices.
两组工人在神经电活动方面的二分法正在阻碍进展。研究神经元单位放电活动与细胞群体复合场电位之间的相互关系既不流行，在技术上也具有挑战性。这两种相互贬低的观点都没有道理：一种观点认为，放电对于高级功能的作用就如同字母表对于莎士比亚作品的作用，而缓慢的场电位是无关紧要的副现象；另一种观点则认为，放电不是神经编码的基础，而是与非放电编码共存的多种编码的基础。场电位主要是潜在过程中富含信息的标志，但有时它们也是邻近细胞的信号，也就是说，它们会产生影响。本文关注利用多通道宽带（放电和慢波）记录进行新研究的机会。在时间和三维空间中的大量结构在微观、中观和宏观活动的每个尺度上都是不同的。强调我们的无知程度，是为了突出发现新原理的机会。目前我们无法估计放电和突触通信与突触外分级信号相比的相对重要性。尽管关于前者的文献占主导地位，但我们必须认为后者可能同样重要。我们目前正处于观察复合局部场电位中宽带电压时间序列以及选择能够在脑区、状态（功能）、阶段（个体发育、衰老）和分类群（进化）之间进行适当区分的描述符的原始阶段。这并不奇怪，因为高等物种的大脑无疑是已知最复杂的系统。它们必定是自然界新发现的最大宝库。这种复杂性不应阻碍我们，但适度的谦逊可以激发想象力。
