1706 



HANDBOOK (ll- I'HYSK )I ( X i\ 



NEl ROI'HYSIOLOGY III 



Concerning the neural mechanisms which hum be 

 implicated in the preservation of kinetic patterns, 

 they can only be discussed as yet in a simplified and 

 speculative manner. Hypotheses of two orders seem to 

 have been commonly discussed during recent times. 

 The first emphasize the plastic changes which may 

 occur in neuronal structures either at the molecular 

 level in membranes (60) or at the synaptic surfaces 

 (29). The latter alone is beginning to receive some 

 experimental support (30). 



The second stress the cyclic properties of the 

 organization of nervous structures. Closed loops have 

 been seen as the seat of circulating autogenetic 

 activity. Thus, through such circulating impulses, 

 patterns of activity can be presented from an early 

 disappearance. Such hypotheses have not received 

 conclusive experimental support (94). They still 

 retain, however, sufficient plausibility to be called 

 upon again in connection with the plasticity hy- 



pothesis in the most recent nervous theories of learn- 

 ing (29, 471. 



We do not have at present any decisive explanation 

 of learning capacity in terms of neurophysiological 

 mechanisms. Owing to the great mass of neurological 

 data which actually falls readily into the traditional 

 scheme of conncclionism, acceptable explanations 

 must, at least in part, take this kind of interpretation 

 into account. It seems, however, that the contribution 

 of anatomical factors in determining the patterns of 

 activity should not be overemphasized. Dynamic 

 factors have also an important role to play. As 

 claimed by Sperry, "learning capacity of the nervous 

 system is much more than a mere passive plasticity ol 

 a highly impressionable tissue. It is more comparable 

 to the active functional ability of a complex machine" 

 (112). This functional ability inherent in nervous 

 organization as in all living matter remains an 

 important task for future investigations to elucidate. 



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