[Changes in the spatial distribution of the neuronal activity in the visual cortex after stimulation with flashes of...

At different stages of development of the response to flash, grouping of excited neurons of the guinea pig 17th area occurs within the same cortical microzones separated by narrow inhibition zones common to the neighbouring excited ones. The ensembles of excited neurons have the form of columns narrowing into depth. The grouping of cells into a silent gap indicates the grouping of inhibiting neurons. Three subgroups are differentiated by the character of averaged dynamics of impulse activity in ensembles, the essential moment of their interrelationship being the reciprocity. The one subgroup in deep layers is characterized by stability of the focus at different stages of the response development and seems to express the grouping of corticofugal neurons. The ensembles are considered to be one of the forms of activity of the structured morphofunctional cortical units, i.e. the columns.