Presence of ghost doublets of coded neuronal patterns: relation to synaptic memory storage

Recent evidence demonstrates that controlled visual stimuli cause the generation, in the primary visual cortex of rhesus monkey cells, of large numbers of very precisely replicating copies of complex patterns of discharge consisting of three or more spikes, the patterns of which presumedly code for specific qualities of the stimuli presented. We present evidence that the copies of precisely replicating triplets of spikes, generally not exceeding 100 ms in duration, occur in close time proximity to many copies of highly precise "ghost" doublets. These doublets are defined as patterns consisting of two pulses, with precise separations in time, specifically those that would be generated if any one of the pulses making up a given replicating triplet were missing. In striking contrast, nonreplicating triplets (also present in these records)--that is, triplets made up of intervals that are not present in replicating triplets--are not accompanied by such ghost doublets. The persistence (memory) of capacity to produce such ghost doublets decays according to two independent kinetic rules. The first of these results in the disappearance of such doublets within about 0.1 s as measured by two independent methods, whereas the second disappears only after several minutes or longer. These results provide strong evidence consistent with the notion that at least some parts of the brain transmit, store representations of, and retrieve qualitative information through the use of a code consisting of specific patterns of nerve discharges in time.