3 ms·
Holy bolts, that looks like the source of the lightning is doing a distributed spatial breadth search of the potential space looking for a connection for the ma
by jaekwon 14y ago
Holy bolts, that looks like the source of the lightning is doing a distributed spatial breadth search of the potential space looking for a connection for the main jolt (the action potential event).
Could this be what the brain is doing? A group of neurons get excited (some concept or thought), and a distributed spatial search happens electrically starting at the source of excitation (literally brainstorming), until it finds the best pathway to connect to "ground" (reasoning), at which point the pathways between "source" and "ground" stay continuously excited for a measurable period of time (the ephiphany moment, learning is happening via hebbian). "Ground" is whatever that causes the source energy to drain, such as the epiphany of a solution, which makes the solution appear obvious.
- rplnt 14y agoAbout tthe first paragraph, that's exactly what it is doing. > These electrons are zigzagging through the air as they meet paths of easier passage through the air--paths with a lower dielectric strength. Each stroke of a lightning strike is usually about 50 m (150 ft) long and lasts about 1 to 2 microseconds with a pause of about 50 microseconds before resuming another stroke in a slightly or significantly different direction. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning#A_typical_Lightning_Strike http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning#A_typical_Lightning_S...
- ionforce 14y agoI like your theory. Now if only a neurologist could chime and and confirm!
- jaekwon 14y agohttp://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/07/unlock-inner-savant/ http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/07/unlock-inner-savan...
- lnanek2 14y agoIf you have a bunch of neurons with different thresholds to trigger their action potentials, then you slowly raise the amount of activity sent to them equally, then the lowest one is going to trigger first. I guess you could call it a search.