Editing Cortical column (section)

==Number of cortical columns==
There are about 200 million (2×10<sup>8</sup>) cortical minicolumns in the human neocortex with up to about 110 neurons each,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Krueger | first1 = James M. |display-authors=et al | year = 2008 | title = Sleep as a fundamental property of neuronal assemblies | journal = Nature Reviews Neuroscience | volume = 9 | issue = 12| pages = 910–919 | pmc=2586424 | pmid=18985047 | doi=10.1038/nrn2521}}</ref> and with estimates of 21–26 billion (2.1×10<sup>10</sup>–2.6×10<sup>10</sup>) neurons in the neocortex. With 50 to 100 cortical minicolumns per cortical column a human would have 2–4 million (2×10<sup>6</sup>–4×10<sup>6</sup>) cortical columns. There may be more if the columns can overlap, as suggested by Tsunoda ''et al''.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Kazushige Tsunoda |author2=Yukako Yamane |author3=Makoto Nishizaki |author4=Manabu Tanifuji |title=Complex objects are represented in macaque inferotemporal cortex by the combination of feature columns |journal=Nat. Neurosci. |volume=4 |issue=8 |pages=832–838 |date=August 2001 |pmid=11477430 |doi=10.1038/90547|s2cid=14714957 }}</ref> Jeff Hawkins claims that there are only 150,000 columns in the human neocortex, based on research made by his company Numenta.<ref name="Hawkins J. 2021">{{cite book |last1=Hawkins |first1=Jeff |title=A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence |year=2021 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-1541675810 |url=https://www.numenta.com/resources/books/a-thousand-brains-by-jeff-hawkins/ |access-date=23 January 2023}}</ref>

There are claims that minicolumns may have as many as 400 principal cells,<ref>{{cite book|title=Brain Mapping – An Encyclopedic Reference|editor=Arthur W. Toga|chapter=Acquisition Methods, Methods and Modeling|author=O. David, in Brain Mapping|year=2015|isbn=9780123973160}}</ref> but it is not clear if that includes glia cells.

Some contradict the previous estimates,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Powell|first1=T. P.|last2=Hiorns|first2=R. W.|last3=Rockel|first3=A. J.|date=June 1980|title=The basic uniformity in structure of the neocortex.|journal=Brain: A Journal of Neurology|volume=103|issue=2|pages=221–244|doi=10.1093/brain/103.2.221|issn=0006-8950|pmid=6772266}}</ref> claiming the original research is too arbitrary.<ref name="Rakic 12099–12100">{{Cite journal|last=Rakic|first=Pasko|date=2008-08-26|title=Confusing cortical columns|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=105|issue=34|pages=12099–12100|doi=10.1073/pnas.0807271105|issn=0027-8424|pmid=18715998|pmc=2527871|bibcode=2008PNAS..10512099R|doi-access=free}}</ref> The authors propose a uniform neocortex, and choose a fixed width and length to calculate the cell numbers. Later research pointed out that the neocortex is indeed not uniform for other species,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lent|first1=Roberto|last2=Kaas|first2=Jon H.|last3=Wong|first3=Peiyan|last4=Collins|first4=Christine E.|last5=Herculano-Houzel|first5=Suzana|date=2008-08-26|title=The basic nonuniformity of the cerebral cortex|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=105|issue=34|pages=12593–12598|doi=10.1073/pnas.0805417105|issn=0027-8424|pmid=18689685|pmc=2527956|doi-access=free}}</ref> and studying nine primate species they found that "the number of neurons underneath 1 mm<sup>2</sup> of the cerebral cortical surface ... varies by three times across species." The neocortex is not uniform across species.<ref name="Rakic 12099–12100"/><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lent|first1=Roberto|last2=Azevedo|first2=Frederico A. C.|last3=Andrade-Moraes|first3=Carlos H.|last4=Pinto|first4=Ana V. O.|date=2012|title=How many neurons do you have? Some dogmas of quantitative neuroscience under revision|journal=European Journal of Neuroscience|volume=35|issue=1|pages=1–9|doi=10.1111/j.1460-9568.2011.07923.x|pmid=22151227|s2cid=20365568|issn=1460-9568}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Chapter 7 - Cortical Columns|pages=109–129|last=Molnár|first=Z.|date=January 2013|journal=Neural Circuit Development and Function in the Brain|doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-397267-5.00137-0|isbn=9780123972675 }}</ref>  The actual number of neurons within a single column is variable, and depends on the cerebral areas and thus the function of the column.