The Neuron Doctrine, Redux

After a century, neuroscientists are rethinking the Neuron Doctrine, the fundamental principle of neuroscience. This proposition, developed primarily by the great Spanish anatomist and Nobel laureate Santiago Ramon y Cajal, holds that a neuron is an anatomically and functionally distinct cellular unit that arises through differentiation of a precursor neuroblast cell. In principle, part of this tenet has held up, but technology and research have extended our knowledge far beyond this simple description. What has evolved is a modern view of the neuron that allows a more broad and intricate perspective of how information is processed in the nervous system. One hundred years since its inception, an examination of the Doctrine indicates that it no longer encompasses important aspects of neuron function. If we are to understand complex, higher level neuronal processes, such as brain function, we need to explore beyond the limits of the Neuron Doctrine.