A group of neuroscientists led by Christoph Koch has found evidence that claustrum can generate consciousness. Scientists have discovered in this structure a giant neuron that envelops the entire outer layer of the brain with its processes and mediates the interaction between its various areas. Reported by the publication Nature.
The claustrum (fence) is a thin plate of gray matter located under the cerebral cortex in the depth of the white matter. According to Francis Crick and Christoph Koch, she can play an important role in the work of consciousness.
To determine the structure of the fence, the researchers used genetically modified mice as a model for neurobiological research. A special drug activates the genes encoding green fluorescent protein in the nerve cells of the claustrum of rodents. As a result, the protein spreads throughout the neuron, making it possible to determine the spatial location of the latter. With the help of a computer program, it was possible to create a 3D reconstruction of three neurons of the fence.
Scientists found that one of the neurons was very long. The cell body wrapped around the outer layer of the brain, in contact with its various areas. According to Koch, this suggests that the claustrum provides communication between the divisions of the central nervous system and forms consciousness.
Raphael Yust, a neuroscientist at Columbia University in the United States, believes that the existence of long neurons does not prove that the fence is involved in the provision of consciousness. However, the method used in the study will identify different types of nerve cells in the brain and help to understand their functions.