3 ms·
if it was slow and over time brain degradation, maybe his brain had enough neural plasticity to reorganize the network for efficiency.
by rokosbasilisk 10y ago
if it was slow and over time brain degradation, maybe his brain had enough neural plasticity to reorganize the network for efficiency.
- hvs 10y agoThat's what I was thinking as I read this. It's still amazing that the brain could have that much neural plasticity, but I think if you simply removed 90% of someone else's brain you would see much different results (likely death). That said, it makes you wonder what genes/proteins make the human brain develop/keep consciousness even with so little material to work with, while other animals don't develop it.
- armitron 10y agoIt is not at all certain that other animals do not develop consciousness. John C. Lilly's work with dolphins for instance points to a different conclusion. There are also other animals (parrots, elephants, various apes) that are widely believed to possess self-awareness if not near-human levels of consciousness.