Functional Systems and Brain Functional Units Beyond Luria, With Luria: Anatomical Aspects

Abstract

This paper describes the anatomical aspects of a functional brain model that develops A. R. Luria’s ideas. Five functional brain units are described on the basis of ontogenetic, anatomical, histological, functional, and clinical studies: preferential or primordial (unit I), limbic (unit II), cortical (unit III), basal ganglia (unit IV), and cerebellar (unit V). This review allows two large integrated and interrelated functional complexes to be distinguished: a primordial-limbic complex (units I and II) and a supralimbic one (units, III, IV and V). There is consensus that there exists a clear interplay among the cortex, the basal ganglia, and the cerebellum. Three main simplified parallel cortico-basal ganglia systems have been recognized: limbic, associative, and sensorimotor. Certain structures (e. g. neuromodulatory systems, hypothalamus, and paralimbic cortex) form functional links among units. Future studies are required to develop and improve the proposed model.