Does the brain use a 'code'?

[chalk]

Was in Neurobiology 301 and learned some things that may shed some light. The brain is a parallel multitasking processor, unlike our single processing machines. This allows us to process information incredibly fast. In fact, if there is a delay of more than 40 ms or so in getting information from nerves, it can lead to problems such as ...I can't remember the name, but the person can't read facial expressions at all. They function at a normal level, they just can not decode and incorporate 'reading' a person. ie. they can't remember faces very well, and the rolling of the eyes, and other slights of expression are lost. There are many diseases that involve 'lag' problems - MS, and ...now I can't remember any more.. but being wired wrong can be a bummer.

The nueral network that makes us up, is one that learns through reinforcement. When we develop our motor skills for like...moving your hand to grab something, neurotransmitters are released and the repeated use sets the nerve cell to activate via action potential with less stimulus than required before. The more successfull we are at aiming the mouse, those neurons involved become sesnsitive or become 'use' to the successful tries of activiating specific muscles etc. Mental pathways are formed when we are young, and they aren't exactly the same in each person but the regions of the brain for processing sight, sound, hearing etc are similar. Using MRI technology, they can actually see the brain access (in parallel) the regions of the brain for memory, sight etc. They can 'see' your bloodflow increase to the areas of the brain when you are shown something.

One weird thing is the hippocampus, if you lose this...you lose all short term memory. An accident victum lost a portion of his, and was unable to use short term memory. He coudn't remember eating, reading a book five minutes ago, or people he just met. he would, however, remember things from his childhood up to the moment of his accident. He would actually freak out when shown a mirror, because he was a young man when the accident happened...and he would become freaked out to learn he was the person in the mirror....happened every time they showed him the mirror. The network of nerve cells are constantly getting reinforced, and new ones are being formed constantly...but basic ones were set up when we were young. New ones are formed (like the action response of playing a video game. You don't think of doing 10 differnt movements and firing a rocket launcher, but your network of reinforced connections does. So they know, because of accidents and 'experiments' on the brain of animals that there are two types of memory, long and short. Somehow, the brain decides what is moved to long term and what is short term via the hippocampus (I think there is another region to but I forget). It would be hell if we were to remember every bit of detail. Photographic memory is sorta of like this, but there are reports that other areas of mental function are affected...ie Photographic memory, but has limited imagination or deductive reasoning skills.

Hope this helps a little, I think the brain is incredibly adaptable...One of the reasons we are the only hominid to make it through ice ages, extinctions, droubt, and other fooked up things in the last hundred thousand years. Early versions of us, did not have the capability of planning, forethought, or empathy. These are integral for our survival.

A lot of the research for nerve cells is done on mollusks and squids, they have simple neural nets and large diameter cells we can actually monitor. I got to cut the nerve ring out of a snail while it was still alive, and then stick a glass tube with a sharp end into the cell to measure action potentials! I think that parallel processing and more discoveries into how the brain works will improve our development of computers. ..that along with shrodinger's cat.

Hope my rambling made some sense.

Addition: Interesting article http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/17/science/17NEUR.html

 

[chalk]

Hrm. I dunno about the code thing. Perhaps they could...based on which neurons are involved and the rate at which there action potentials are or aren't being used.


For your last question...I don't know about the frequency thing....The tranmission through nerve cells is one by the opening and closing of ion gates in the cell membrane...so actually the cell isn't transmitting electricity...it is maintaining a 'potential' of ions. When the cell is triggered, an action potential takes place where this potential is disrupted and the ion channels let through K+, or whatever ion the cell uses to maintain its action potential. This action potential and its ensuing equiilibrium travels up the nerve cell body. There are some nerve cells in your leg and from the brain to the bottom of the spine that are ONE cell! So I don't know if you could equate 'frequency' by 1/wavelength with the trasmission rate, but the initially triggered action potential does have a definate mesaureable frequency and overshoot and undershoot values as it recharches for another stimulus. In our lab, nerve cells in locations similar in other snails had similar but not exactly the same action potentials...

 

[Quantum]

IMO, from physiological psychology class and time I spend in a nueropsychology lab, the brain uses a type of "code" but it's not like a computers. 3 possible signals can occur: 1) Constant signal which maintains a pathway, 2) Increases in signal, and 3) Decrease in signal.

Each can be "decoded" but it depends on the region of the brain, nuerotransmitters involved, and what the other nuerons do that is connected to that nueron.

The best approach to the brain isn't a computer analogy. It makes it more confusing. Best, for me anyways, is Zen.

Oh, nuerons transmit signals by electro chemical process of exchanging potassium and sodium across the nueron's cell membrane. The change in charges sends a signals through the nueron and jumps to another nueron by use of nuerotransmitters. It doesn't use FM waves at all but some research shows that all living nervous systems produce an electrical field.

 

[bryguy2323]

The brain uses PHP and MySQL

 

[chalk]

hehe! PHP and MySql! I knew it! I lost Mysql passwd to my brain long ago.

Right on Quantum, nice insight from physiological psychology. I wish I had your effectiveness with words...I tend to just spew trying to explain something, relying on typing ability more than monitoring what comes out(like spelling for example).

So what do you guys think, is Ã…nubis is gonna make a 'Stragedays' experience recording/rendering device.

 

[Quantum]

Chalk, don't fret. It took me awhile to do it. Just ask my English professors.

At any rate, your ideas did come across perfectly.

 

[shan]

The brain uses PHP and MySQL

I know mine does..

<?
$usr = "me";
$pas = "password";
$db = "girls";
mysql_connect(localhost,$usr,$pas);
mysql_select_db($db);
$result = ("SELECT * FROM girlies_numbers WHERE name = 'Jenny' and hair='blonde'");
mysql_query($result);

echo $phone_number;
?>

(the short version)

ahh, that makes it easy...