Neuronal Coding of Perceptual Systems Proceedings of the International School of Biophysics, Casamicciola, Napoli, Italy, 12-17 October 1998

Neuronal coding of information coming from external and internal environments and transducted by sensory receptors constitutes a basic biophysical problem. After the coding phase, such information orients organism responses, shaping complex behavioural patterns. The characteristics of both neurons (interneurons with re-entering connections, latency times, filter bandwidth with respect to input signals, logic operations on multiple convergent signals) and neuron nets (reverberating nets, feedback/feed-forward connections, oscillations due to endogenous activity patterns) are important for coding mechanisms. Neuronal coding is implied also in the higher phases of information processing linked to consciousness, when neuronal activity patterns are related to perceptual mental representations.