Cortico-cortical connections, non-linear multicolumnar parallel distributed networks and memory processes in humans. A review.

This review outlines the knowledge gained in the last 50 years concerning the neuroanatomy and neuro-psychophysiology of memory processes in humans. The first part traces the history of the most important findings from ablations of specific cerebral structures and/or stimulations performed on numerous patients using different surgical and neurophysiological methodologies. The interpretation of these findings is discussed. The most recent hypotheses on the neuronal substrates likely to be involved in memory and recall processes are then presented. In particular the concept of parallel distributed non-linear multicolumnar cortical networks is described as well as the recent hypothesis concerning the chaotic oscillatory properties of these complex non-linear neuronal systems which are said to behave as chaotic deterministic attractors.