FUNCTION OF THE THALAMIC RETICULAR COMPLEX - THE SEARCHLIGHT HYPOTHESIS

In the brain, the internal attentional searchlight is controlled by the reticular complex of the thalamus (including the closely related perigeniculate nucleus), and the expression of the searchlight is the production of rapid bursts of firing in a subset of thalamic neurons. The conjunctions produced by the attentional searchlight are mediated by rapidly modifiable synapses, here called Malsburg synapses, and especially by rapid bursts acting on them. The activation of Malsburg synapses is envisaged as producing transient cell assemblies, including vertical ones that temporarily unite neurons at different levels in the neural hierarchy.