We
are the only species that makes use of our powerfully developed cortex
in our brains to build and apply conceptual frameworks of understanding.
"There
are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's
self" Benjamin Franklin
Neuroscience
V2.0
In
humans 76 percent of the brain is made up of a structure called the
neocortex and this is where most of the brains high level processing
takes place.
To
date, most people have understood the brain to be primarily made up
of neurons; however neurons account for less than 10 percent of cells
in the cortex with 90 percent of the cells in the cortex being a different
type of cell known as glia (singular glial).
Here
is a wonderful comparison of the processing power of the computer and
the brain just to show how dissimilar the two actually are.
"A
neuron collects inputs from senses and combines these inputs together
to decide when to output a spike to other neurons. A typical neuron
can do this and reset itself in about 5 milliseconds. This may seem
fast but a modern silicon based computer can do one billion operations
in a second. This means the basic computer operation is 5 million times
faster than the basic operation in your brain.. . . . . The neurons
are slow, so in a half a second the information entering your brain
can only traverse a chain 100 neurons long".
Jeff Hawkins
"Nearly
10 times as many cells, called glia, fill the spaces between neurons,
and the ratio of glia to neurons increases in animals "higher"
on the evolutionary tree."
Douglas Fields
Scientific
American Mind June/July 2006 p25
We now know that
a particular type of glial cell called astrocytes have been "listening
in" on "conversations among neurons all along. Not only
are they listening in but they are also are interacting chemically
with neurons and can interrupt and redirect neuron messages and signals.
"They
communicate much more slowly than neurons do but the speed may be
adequate for many cognitive processes that do not require lightning-quick
messages such as the mechanisms that regulate mood and behavior"
Douglas Fields; Scientific
American Mind June/July 2006 p26
What
we propose is that it is the astrocytes and their ability to interact
with the neurons and the hormone system via feedback and feed-forward
processes allow the creation of conceptual frameworks of understanding.
100
Trillion: Processing capacity
of the human brain
Huang
Gregory; New Scientist;
3 May 2008
The ability of the astrocytes to interact with the neurons via feedback
and feed forward processes would allow the glia to look for and recognize
neural patterns and the glia may well also be able to monitor hormone
levels associated with these patterns.
Recalling
memories depends on three classes of cells associated with
-
the
emotion associated with the memory
-
the
location where the memory happened
-
the
time sequence of the memory
Couple
this with the ability to the brain to form invariant schemas and
you have a set of powerful tools to increase thinking efficiency
dramatically. We propose that the invariant schemas developed by
the brain are automated by an initiator and the schema is then "run"
by the astrocytes. As an example when you decide to sit down the
invariant schema of the chair, coupled with the concept framework
associated with sitting down are engaged and the astrocytes manage
this process releasing your neurons to carry out conscious thinking
processes.
