The Cellular Basis of Memory

Abstract

Without question, the nervous system of the more highly developed animals, especially of the vertebrates, represents the most complex level of organization of all living matter. In essence, it is comprised of only two different types of cells, nerve cells (neurons; Waldeyer, 1891) and glial cells (neuroglia). The neurons perform the specific, specialized activity of the nerve tissue, i.e., reception, processing, and transmission of information from cell to cell and, most importantly, the storage of information, thereby serving as the repository of memory content. The functions of the neuroglia, in contrast to those of the neurons, cannot be defined so readily. Indeed, the glial cells insulate, protect, and support the nerve cells from external, mechanical influences, but the neuroglia also perform metabolic tasks in the sense of metabolic symbiosis with the nerve cells.