Interneuronal relations within and between cortical areas during conditioning in cats.

Multiunit activity was chronically recorded in auditory, visual and motor cortex during classical conditioning and extinction. A statistical method for cross-correlation analysis of interneuronal relations was used. Plastic changes in cortical integrative function had spatial features and depended upon types of conditioning. Results suggest the spatial features in cortical cell integration in the trained-brain consisting of 3 categories of neuronal system organizations: microset, local and inter-regional. The first two are localized in a cortical projection region, whereas the third occupies cortical regions activated during conditioning. An evaluation of systemic activity in cortical neurons suggests specific organizations of cortical integrative functions in learning.