“…In the context of the theory of columnar organization in the cerebral cortex (MOUNTCASTLE, 1957(MOUNTCASTLE, , 1979ASANUMA, 1975;SZENTAGOTHAI, 1975SZENTAGOTHAI, , 1978aPHILLIPS and PORTER, 1977;ECCLES, 1980ECCLES, , 1981RAKIC, 1981), tangential spread of inhibition has been interpreted as limiting excitatory spread so as to build up a sharp focus of cortical activity (LANDGREN et al, 1962;BROOKS and ASANUMA, 1965;BROOKS, 1969;OSHIMA, 1969;BROOKS and STONEY, 1971). It is conceivable that the newly found inhibitory spread at the middle layer also plays a part in this lateral or surround inhibition.…”