DailyDirt: Studying Gray Matter Before We Hack It...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Our brains are pretty complex bundles of nerves -- that aren't actually like CPUs at all (even though lots of folks make the brain-CPU analogy). We're still trying to figure these wrinkled organs out with fairly primitive methods, but at least some progress is being made. Here are just a few quick links on some brain studies. By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.
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Filed Under: brains, genes, ibrain, memory, sleep


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  • identicon
    Pixelation, 6 Jun 2011 @ 5:09pm

    "So try to get a good night's sleep before making any best-laid plans with mice."

    Well, if you remember, mice are here to study us. Hopefully the Vogons won't be any trouble.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Darryl, 6 Jun 2011 @ 5:32pm

    Brain not like a CPU !

    Our brains are pretty complex bundles of nerves -- that aren't actually like CPUs at all

    No, CPU's are not like our brains, but they are 'like' in that they both perform the same functions, process data.

    the brain and a CPU may not use the same techniques as each other, but they are both performing the same basic functions.

    but if you are going to say "they are just not the same, or act the same" then state why you think that!

    We're still trying to figure these wrinkled organs out with fairly primitive methods,

    Primitive ???

    Positron Emission tomography (PET) (anti-matter scanning)

    Nuclear Magnetic resonance (NMR) (electron spin analysis)

    CAT (Computer Aided Tomography).

    Electron Microscopagraphy

    (TEM) ?

    You consider those 'primitive' Mike?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Casey Bouch (profile), 6 Jun 2011 @ 6:48pm

      Re: Brain not like a CPU !

      When you compare these methods to our actual brain functions, I would consider it primitive. Consider science fiction and our potential technological advancements. In a few hundred years, anything we are doing now will be perceived as primitive.

      History Teacher in an Elementary School in 2211 begins his class by linking into a hive neural network and begins his daily instruction by feeding information directly into his class's temporal lobe. "In the 21st Century, we used a series of ones and zeros to perform primitive computations by accessing various true/false conditions. This method was similar to the original sand table abacus' used as far back as 2700 BC. Before we began utilizing and we were restricted to Silicon. This material's ability to compute data was restricted by heat and instead of finding more innovative methods for processing data, we used complex cooling methods or simply increased the number of processing cores. Computers in the 21st Century were equipped with fans and water cooling systems found in primitive automobiles."

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Casey Bouch (profile), 6 Jun 2011 @ 6:52pm

        Re: Re: Brain not like a CPU !

        --Shouldn't have used arrows.. lost some text;

        History Teacher in an Elementary School in 2211 begins his class by linking into a hive neural network and begins his daily instruction by feeding information directly into his class's temporal lobe. "In the 21st Century, we used a series of ones and zeros to perform primitive computations by accessing various true/false conditions. This method was similar to the original sand table abacus' used as far back as 2700 BC. Before we began utilizing (insert futuristic computation method here) and (synthetic compound existing in quantum space) we were restricted to Silicon. This material's ability to compute data was restricted by heat and instead of finding more innovative methods for processing data, we used complex cooling methods or simply increased the number of processing cores. Computers in the 21st Century were equipped with fans and water cooling systems found in primitive automobiles."

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 6 Jun 2011 @ 6:30pm

    Can Brains Grow Larger?

    You’ve probably seen some science-fiction from the earlier part of last century portraying super-intelligent aliens with enormously-swollen brains.

    Is that sort of thing possible? Would it even work? Are there physical limits to how large our brains can get? Would it boost our brain power?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Michael Ho (profile), 8 Aug 2011 @ 11:41am

      Re: Can Brains Grow Larger?

      Bigger is not necessarily better! I'm sure there are mammals with larger brains than ours, but that doesn't mean those mammals are more intelligent... And some birds are supposedly smarter than some larger animals, but bird brains aren't exactly huge.

      link to this | view in chronology ]


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