3 ms·
In general in biology, when there is long-standing dispute as to whether a certain system relies on Mechanism X or Mechanism Y, my impression is that the answer
by snewman 6y ago
In general in biology, when there is long-standing dispute as to whether a certain system relies on Mechanism X or Mechanism Y, my impression is that the answer almost invariably turns out to be that X, Y, and previously-unsuspected Z all play a role.
- 1996 6y agoGood take. Here: - X=neural network geometric configuration, - Y=individual synapses due to the various neurotransmitters, - Z=cytoskeleton (already suspected to play a role)
- joe_the_user 6y agoYep, It seems reasonable to suspect that there's a lot of duplication in the human brain - as demonstrated by the periodic articles about people who function normally with brains compressed/shrunk to a tiny percentage of normal size. And I guess that duplication comes from the multiple systems all able to provide a similar function. For example, man with 10% normal brain size: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12301-man-with-tiny-brain-shocks-doctors/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12301-man-with-tiny-b...