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It doesn't run on electrons. To the extent that the brain runs on electricity, it modulates that electric potential by moving positively charged sodium and pota
by rcthompson 10y ago
It doesn't run on electrons. To the extent that the brain runs on electricity, it modulates that electric potential by moving positively charged sodium and potassium ions, not electrons, across cell membranes. Also, the ions flow back and forth across the membrane, not parallel to it. Furthermore, the electrical signal only travels within a single neuron. Transmission from one neuron to another by sending small molecules called neutotransmitters across synapses.
Of course, none of the above precludes the brain being considered a digital computer. However, the brain does not operate on any kind of fixed clock, and the strength of a signal from one neuron to another is measured in neurotransmitter molecules per second, a fundamentally analog quantity.