Patterns in brain currents?

[Sonata]

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We know that the brain generates electric currents. Trigger a cell and generate an electrical relay until the impulse hits the intended cell.

I was just wondering if the brain generates these in finite digits. Like an electrical current through a cpu.

Theoreticly if there were patterns and you could distinguish them couldn’t you affect people? What about a compiler from a formula? Almost think of it like computer code.

Sorry guys im really just a 23 year old guy asking dumb questions after watching too much discovery channel.

 

[Nerdoscience]

It gets more complicated than that because most nerves in people don't just transmit electrical signals. They get chemical signals that are converted into a chemical process that transmits an electrical signal down the length of a nerve, and when it reaches the end, it triggers another chemical signal.

These chemical signals are then modulated by other interactions in the space between the first cell and the target cell, including feedback onto the first cell, breakdown of the chemical, etc...

So, yes and no. You can break a lot of processes down into distinct pathways; in fact, that's a lot of what Neurology is about. Not all of them, especially those associated with consciousness, decisionmaking, are understood. And you can stick electrical devices into people's heads and have an effect on their behavior, whether it's their movements (deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's), mood (DBS also used for this in some countries, much research on rewarding brain stimulation also done), or something else.

Hope that helps you. Maybe some day what sounds really sci-fi will be common place. There will, of course, be many legal and ethical issues associated with that.

 

[Sonata]

It gets more complicated than that because most nerves in people don't just transmit electrical signals. They get chemical signals that are converted into a chemical process that transmits an electrical signal down the length of a nerve, and when it reaches the end, it triggers another chemical signal.

These chemical signals are then modulated by other interactions in the space between the first cell and the target cell, including feedback onto the first cell, breakdown of the chemical, etc...

So, yes and no. You can break a lot of processes down into distinct pathways; in fact, that's a lot of what Neurology is about. Not all of them, especially those associated with consciousness, decisionmaking, are understood. And you can stick electrical devices into people's heads and have an effect on their behavior, whether it's their movements (deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's), mood (DBS also used for this in some countries, much research on rewarding brain stimulation also done), or something else.

Hope that helps you. Maybe some day what sounds really sci-fi will be common place. There will, of course, be many legal and ethical issues associated with that.

Yes i know about directional signaling for different pathways in the brain. Say you had a relay station composed of 3 cells. A different chemical signal would be sent to the correct cell witch redirects it to the correct current(final target cell destination) like an area code if you will. And said that this signal would travel x amount of times per sequence. Insert a 0 and signal terminates. Do it three times more to the other 2 recepiant cells. So like a trivecta sonar signal you could easily read patterns(i mean how hard could it be to count to 3?). Sorry that was from Bill Nuy.

 

[latinfridley]

We know that the brain generates electric currents. Trigger a cell and generate an electrical relay until the impulse hits the intended cell.

I was just wondering if the brain generates these in finite digits. Like an electrical current through a cpu.

While an action potential or electrical signal within a neuron can be considered an 'all or none' phenomenon, i.e. - 1 or 0, the connection b/w adjacent neurons is a graded one. Meaning that it is analog. So there is a mix of analog and digital circuitry within a neural circuit, not to mention the many, many modulating factors involved (which I won't bother to get into). The brains circuitry is much more complex than CPU processing, and is not in fact analogous to a CPU. I could go much more into the faulty analogy b/w the brain and a computer but I'm sure there is good info somewhere on the internet about this.

 

[latinfridley]

Yes i know about directional signaling for different pathways in the brain. Say you had a relay station composed of 3 cells. A different chemical signal would be sent to the correct cell witch redirects it to the correct current(final target cell destination) like an area code if you will. And said that this signal would travel x amount of times per sequence. Insert a 0 and signal terminates. Do it three times more to the other 2 recepiant cells. So like a trivecta sonar signal you could easily read patterns(i mean how hard could it be to count to 3?). Sorry that was from Bill Nuy.

Don't think of a neuron as a one dimensional relay. If you are familiar with OO programming at all, then it may help to envision a neuron as an object with many properties and processes within that can alter the output signal. Additionally its necessary to understand that there are thousands of cellular and non-cellular influences onto each neuron that in turn can influence a given neuron's output. So, in OO language, a neuron is not a static object, rather an extremely complex dynamic object that can be modified over time.

 

[Sonata]

what if instead of 0,1 (binary based logic) the brain used 0,1,2(trinary based logic)? Of course it would be many times more complex than a computer.

Thanks for your opinions i love it when people dont critisize my ideas.

 

[Sonata]

Don't think of a neuron as a one dimensional relay..

Sorry i ment 3

 

[Nerdoscience]

what if instead of 0,1 (binary based logic) the brain used 0,1,2(trinary based logic)? Of course it would be many times more complex than a computer.

Thanks for your opinions i love it when people dont critisize my ideas.

Trinary, though not digital in the sense that binary is, still does not encompass the analog nature of neurotransmission. I think, technically, anything could be computerized, in that there are a finite number of receptors on the neurons that have predefined functions, there are a finite number of vacuoles of transmitters released at the synapse, etc... Because action potentials are essentially binary, then if you factored in all the other modulators, you might get a semblance of what the nervous system does, but that is, so far, impossible.

 

[drimg]

thankx sonata for raising this beautiful & eternally mysterious topic. the basic unit of brain functioning or THE BRAIN CODE ( like the genetic code ) is one of the most debatable, least understood & extensively searched item in science. as the science advances we get new paradigms to compare the brain to it. so currently we r comparing it with a computer rather than a clockwork. But it is definitely not that simple

1. neurons do not have one to one cnnection. they are at the same time being bombarded by multiple neuronal inputs

2. action potentials are not simple "all or none" phenomenon. there are things like long term potentiations - excitatory/ inhibitory

3. renshaw cells - the create negative feedback loop with the same neuron

4. neuron to neuron communications are not simply only through synapse. neuropiles and other things like that also play a big role that we have just began to discover

5. the " LOCALIZATION " of brain functions are also being debated with the advent of functional neuroimaging. some times many areas , classically not being associated with a particular function, even very far from the area of primary activation, are seen to be activated.

by the way have u read the works of roger penrose or dan dennet ? they can answer a lot of your simple but very fundamental query.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

Yeah, not to mention that no two neurons in the brain are identical. This is a fascinating concept though. It brought to mind an article I had read in Discover magazine, so I looked it up: Big Blue to Build a Brain ...Apparently there are some ambitious Swiss scientists working on this idea.