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This sheds some light on one of those things I believe, but can not prove... I usually carry too much junk in my pockets, and when I dig around in my pocket fo

This sheds some light on one of those things I believe, but can not prove... I usually carry too much junk in my pockets, and when I dig around in my pocket for something it amazes me how fast I can recognize what I'm touching. I don't know why but I've thought that there is some other non-conscious system in place that, at a minimum, helps improve tactile recognition. It's kind of subtle, but it feels like my hand somehow knows what I'm searching for, and can recognize it much better than I can. Also, along the same lines of thought, I suspect that there must be a whole lot of intelligence locked away in our bodies that isn't easily accessed consciously, but it's still there.

GenerocUsername 12y ago
I think this concept has existed for quite some time. Musicians and athletes and dancers have always known about muscle memory. But whether those memories existed in the appendages or in the brain was never well known. I think this gives more credit to the idea that some memories are actually stored in the Peripheral Nervous System. As a thought experiment, lets say a famous guitarist loses an arm and gets a perfect transplant or a prosthetic which perfectly matches their previous dexterity. Would it perform as well as their old hand, or was the hand performing additional calculations on incoming and outgoing data that could never fully be replicated by a replacement. Now take it a step further and assume a random person receives a famous guitarists arm in a perfect transplant. That arm is an instrument in itself with its stored knowledge, but that doesn't mean the receiving brain knows how to communicate effectively with it. I'm sure they would have basic communication, but the extended neural vocabulary of the old Brain-hand pair would be known to the new host-brain. Personally, I believe it is a tandem effort between CNS and PNS in which each becomes accustomed to the signals sent by the other. For example: A brain tells a finger to curl HARD, the finger neurons receive the brains input, modulates it with local factors, and sends it to the muscle. Likewise, the finger knows the feel of the strings exceptionally well, and can send highly detailed messages back to the brain who is used to receiving highly detailed messages. But in the new host who doesn't know this advanced feeling, it just feels like a regular old input.
pflanze 12y ago
> intelligence locked away in our bodies You may or may not have seen the recent discussion about the "gut brain" and how it influences mood. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7957057 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7957057
ehsanu1 12y ago
> It's kind of subtle, but it feels like my hand somehow knows what I'm searching for, and can recognize it much better than I can. Most brain processes are subconscious, so if neurons outside the brain perform part of those processes, it should not really matter. Subconscious processes are subconscious, within the brain or not. Anyways, read "On Intelligence" by Jeff Hawkins for a theory of how very fast pattern matching works in the brain. Skin neurons not needed, but can also fit into the theory I think.
- supadupa777 12y ago
  Kind of reminds me of how these anenomes feel/process. I'd love to see this under a FMRI. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphiprioninae#mediaviewer/File:Amphiprion_ocellaris_(Clown_anemonefish)_in_Heteractis_magnifica_(Sea_anemone).jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphiprioninae#mediaviewer/File...
stinos 12y ago
Don't want to sound harsh, but have you really always thought like that, or just now that you read the article? I am just asking because such things occur to me often: I read something I always had a vague idea about, then read it in good wordings and suddenly I'm like 'oh yeah, I've always known that'. While I obviously haven't. Think carefully before giving an answer, the brain is king into tricking 'you' into believing things. it feels like my hand somehow knows what I'm searching for, and can recognize it much better than I can Imo that is just your brain having learnt your habits in such a way that you now don't actively have to think about it anymore. The sensory inputs of your hand still go to your brain, and are processed there into commands to your hand's muscles. Subconscious or not, sensory input locally 'pre'processed or not, your hand is not locally processing that complete cycle so it doesn't 'know' anything nor is it working standalone.

GenerocUsername 12y ago

I think this concept has existed for quite some time. Musicians and athletes and dancers have always known about muscle memory. But whether those memories existed in the appendages or in the brain was never well known. I think this gives more credit to the idea that some memories are actually stored in the Peripheral Nervous System. As a thought experiment, lets say a famous guitarist loses an arm and gets a perfect transplant or a prosthetic which perfectly matches their previous dexterity. Would it perform as well as their old hand, or was the hand performing additional calculations on incoming and outgoing data that could never fully be replicated by a replacement. Now take it a step further and assume a random person receives a famous guitarists arm in a perfect transplant. That arm is an instrument in itself with its stored knowledge, but that doesn't mean the receiving brain knows how to communicate effectively with it. I'm sure they would have basic communication, but the extended neural vocabulary of the old Brain-hand pair would be known to the new host-brain. Personally, I believe it is a tandem effort between CNS and PNS in which each becomes accustomed to the signals sent by the other. For example: A brain tells a finger to curl HARD, the finger neurons receive the brains input, modulates it with local factors, and sends it to the muscle. Likewise, the finger knows the feel of the strings exceptionally well, and can send highly detailed messages back to the brain who is used to receiving highly detailed messages. But in the new host who doesn't know this advanced feeling, it just feels like a regular old input.

pflanze 12y ago

> intelligence locked away in our bodies You may or may not have seen the recent discussion about the "gut brain" and how it influences mood. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7957057 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7957057

ehsanu1 12y ago

> It's kind of subtle, but it feels like my hand somehow knows what I'm searching for, and can recognize it much better than I can. Most brain processes are subconscious, so if neurons outside the brain perform part of those processes, it should not really matter. Subconscious processes are subconscious, within the brain or not. Anyways, read "On Intelligence" by Jeff Hawkins for a theory of how very fast pattern matching works in the brain. Skin neurons not needed, but can also fit into the theory I think.

supadupa777 12y ago
Kind of reminds me of how these anenomes feel/process. I'd love to see this under a FMRI. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphiprioninae#mediaviewer/File:Amphiprion_ocellaris_(Clown_anemonefish)_in_Heteractis_magnifica_(Sea_anemone).jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphiprioninae#mediaviewer/File...

stinos 12y ago

Don't want to sound harsh, but have you really always thought like that, or just now that you read the article? I am just asking because such things occur to me often: I read something I always had a vague idea about, then read it in good wordings and suddenly I'm like 'oh yeah, I've always known that'. While I obviously haven't. Think carefully before giving an answer, the brain is king into tricking 'you' into believing things. it feels like my hand somehow knows what I'm searching for, and can recognize it much better than I can Imo that is just your brain having learnt your habits in such a way that you now don't actively have to think about it anymore. The sensory inputs of your hand still go to your brain, and are processed there into commands to your hand's muscles. Subconscious or not, sensory input locally 'pre'processed or not, your hand is not locally processing that complete cycle so it doesn't 'know' anything nor is it working standalone.