collective spiking activity can discharge a target (reader) neuron(s). Due to anatomical constraints, various combinations of upstream cells, active in a short time window, converge onto different reader neurons in the target layer (Figure 1C). Whether different constellations of spiking upstream neurons are regarded parts of the same assembly, or rather as different assemblies is not inherent but requires the specification of the downstream classifier-reader neuron(s). Because of the all-or-none spike response of the reader neuron, the reader neuron-defined cell assembly denotes a discrete, collective unitary event, which I refer to as the fundamental cell assembly or assembly τ.
