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> Thoughts are the neural activity in your brain, and they > get stored as physical objects -- the neural connections. > They get stronger as you think more

by apl 16y ago

> Thoughts are the neural activity in your brain, and they > get stored as physical objects -- the neural connections. > They get stronger as you think more about them and they > can go away too – so we have a scientific explanation for > the adage, “Use it or lose it.” Why do people feel this constant urge to sprinkle their fluff posts with not-even-semi-correct pop-neuroscience? He clearly doesn't know anything about neural plasticity, so why cheapen everything by pretending?

tokenadult 16y ago
What's your recommendation for a scientifically responsible overview of neuroscience for a nonspecialist reader? I think that's what most of the readers of HN might be looking for, and I'd be happy to look up anything you recommend.
- mooftard 16y ago
  I'm not looking for that and I'm a an HN reader. I find it to be off topic. You can pick up any book on neuroscience and it will be better than that shit blog post. If you want something easy to understand listen to this: http://www.radiolab.org/ http://www.radiolab.org/.
- apl 16y ago
  Choice of resources should depend on what you're interested in. Monolithic "neuroscience" remains a myth -- it's a vast field, ranging from cognitive psychology to biophysics. A scientist researching synaptic transmission mechanisms doesn't share much common ground with a guy doing high-level stuff. For what's commonly called cognitive neuroscience (which generally includes memory, cognition, learning and so on, thereby having the most relevance for a nonspecialist reader), Gazzaniga/Ivry/Mangun (2008) remains an absolutely solid introduction that doesn't dumb stuff down while still providing plenty of illustrations and worthwhile patient cases. Covers basic neurobiology in sufficient detail. My recommendation for this kind of stuff. For molecular and general neurobiology, I recommend the first few chapters of Squire's "Fundamental Neuroscience." Kandel's good as well. If you're looking for something more basic, Carlson's "Physiology of Behavior" is a brilliant and rather entertaining book.
espeed 16y ago
That's pretty much a direct quote from MIT neuroscientist Sebastian Seung's TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sebastian_seung.html http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sebastian_seung.html The idea that neural connections (synapses) grow stronger from learning is well supported... "synapses grow stronger when we're awake as we learn and adapt to an ever-changing environment" (http://www.med.wisc.edu/news-events/news/sleep-tempers-growth-of-synapses/842 http://www.med.wisc.edu/news-events/news/sleep-tempers-growt...) "Most contemporary neuro-scientists agree that learning takes place at the neural switch points – the synapses. Research has shown that experience can change synapses: they can become either stronger or weaker; and this change can persist for a lifetime. Changes in synaptic conduction are without doubt the basis for learning and long-term memory" (http://www.mentalspaceresearch.com/english-articles/expanding-the-neuro-in-nlp http://www.mentalspaceresearch.com/english-articles/expandin...). "One area of change is the synapses, the connections between neurons, which are altered as the brain receives stimuli. “What happens when you’re awake is you produce an overall strengthening of synapses,” Dr. Tononi said. “That’s good, because that’s how you learn.” But that is unsustainable in the long run, because stronger synapses require more energy and material, and there’s a limit to how much of both is available. “It’s as if in the morning you start with a V-6 engine,” he said, “and in the evening you find yourself idling, but you’re running a V-8.” Stronger synapses are also bigger, but the brain cannot grow bigger or denser. “If you strengthen synapses because you learn, soon you’d reach a point where you can’t learn further,” he added. So Dr. Tononi and a colleague, Chiara Cirelli, have hypothesized that during sleep, the synapses weaken. The downscaling is across the board, so that the synapses’ relative strength is maintained. Those that have been used (those involved in learning) stay stronger than those that haven’t." (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/science/29obslee.html?_r=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/science/29obslee.html?_r=1)
- mooftard 16y ago
  They don't get stronger, they simply get different. Thinking on a past experience, for example, changes the memory of the experience. Thoughts can actually be corrupted by thinking about them. Use it and lose it in just as many cases as the opposite.
- deleted 16y ago
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by apl 16y ago

tokenadult 16y ago

What's your recommendation for a scientifically responsible overview of neuroscience for a nonspecialist reader? I think that's what most of the readers of HN might be looking for, and I'd be happy to look up anything you recommend.

mooftard 16y ago
I'm not looking for that and I'm a an HN reader. I find it to be off topic. You can pick up any book on neuroscience and it will be better than that shit blog post. If you want something easy to understand listen to this: http://www.radiolab.org/ http://www.radiolab.org/.
apl 16y ago
Choice of resources should depend on what you're interested in. Monolithic "neuroscience" remains a myth -- it's a vast field, ranging from cognitive psychology to biophysics. A scientist researching synaptic transmission mechanisms doesn't share much common ground with a guy doing high-level stuff. For what's commonly called cognitive neuroscience (which generally includes memory, cognition, learning and so on, thereby having the most relevance for a nonspecialist reader), Gazzaniga/Ivry/Mangun (2008) remains an absolutely solid introduction that doesn't dumb stuff down while still providing plenty of illustrations and worthwhile patient cases. Covers basic neurobiology in sufficient detail. My recommendation for this kind of stuff. For molecular and general neurobiology, I recommend the first few chapters of Squire's "Fundamental Neuroscience." Kandel's good as well. If you're looking for something more basic, Carlson's "Physiology of Behavior" is a brilliant and rather entertaining book.

espeed 16y ago

That's pretty much a direct quote from MIT neuroscientist Sebastian Seung's TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sebastian_seung.html http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sebastian_seung.html The idea that neural connections (synapses) grow stronger from learning is well supported... "synapses grow stronger when we're awake as we learn and adapt to an ever-changing environment" (http://www.med.wisc.edu/news-events/news/sleep-tempers-growth-of-synapses/842 http://www.med.wisc.edu/news-events/news/sleep-tempers-growt...) "Most contemporary neuro-scientists agree that learning takes place at the neural switch points – the synapses. Research has shown that experience can change synapses: they can become either stronger or weaker; and this change can persist for a lifetime. Changes in synaptic conduction are without doubt the basis for learning and long-term memory" (http://www.mentalspaceresearch.com/english-articles/expanding-the-neuro-in-nlp http://www.mentalspaceresearch.com/english-articles/expandin...). "One area of change is the synapses, the connections between neurons, which are altered as the brain receives stimuli. “What happens when you’re awake is you produce an overall strengthening of synapses,” Dr. Tononi said. “That’s good, because that’s how you learn.” But that is unsustainable in the long run, because stronger synapses require more energy and material, and there’s a limit to how much of both is available. “It’s as if in the morning you start with a V-6 engine,” he said, “and in the evening you find yourself idling, but you’re running a V-8.” Stronger synapses are also bigger, but the brain cannot grow bigger or denser. “If you strengthen synapses because you learn, soon you’d reach a point where you can’t learn further,” he added. So Dr. Tononi and a colleague, Chiara Cirelli, have hypothesized that during sleep, the synapses weaken. The downscaling is across the board, so that the synapses’ relative strength is maintained. Those that have been used (those involved in learning) stay stronger than those that haven’t." (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/science/29obslee.html?_r=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/science/29obslee.html?_r=1)

mooftard 16y ago
They don't get stronger, they simply get different. Thinking on a past experience, for example, changes the memory of the experience. Thoughts can actually be corrupted by thinking about them. Use it and lose it in just as many cases as the opposite.
deleted 16y ago
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deleted 16y ago

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