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18 Aug Modeling Positive and Negative Activation

Blue Neurons

Humans learn from both positive and negative experiences. The electrical flow between neurons can be positive (excitatory), propagating electrical potential flow along neural path to create further excitation and a bubbling-up effect, or negative (inhibitory) reducing or stopping the electrical potential flow along a pathway. Remember that a neural pathway is not like a long line, but like […]

25 Jan The Chromophore as Digital Bit

Brain Data

I have opined in prior posts that the skeletal components that give structure to axons and dendrites, especially microtubules, may play a larger role in cognition than previously thought. The illustration of microtubule structure at right shows how the alpha and beta tubulin dimers string themselves together to make protofilaments, which further join one another […]

08 Jan E/I Electric Potential Curve

Action Potentials Classic Curve

Challenge I’ve noticed two phenomena in computing that have often been compared to brain activity even though they don’t significantly resemble the behavior of electrical potential changes between neurons: Flip-Flop (the changing of a “register” from 0 to 1 Node Firing (The activation of a node in an artificial neural network) In this section of Understanding Context, I’ve been trying to […]

06 Jan Excitation and Inhibition

Most, if not all, neural information-processing functions involve the flow of action potential. Impulses in the nervous system are changes in the action potential or electrical charge of membranes. It is possible that, in addition to the membranes, the potential within the cytoplasm of the cell changes as a result of electrical flow in neurons. […]

03 Jan Synapses and Neurotransmitters

Spark Plug

Synapse Structure Electrical impulses are transmitted between neurons either electrically or chemically, with chemical synapses being the most numerous by far. The synapse is where electrical transduction between neurons occurs, facilitating perception, thought and action. The gap between a synapse and its target is called the synaptic cleft (tagged in the center right of the illustration and […]

31 Dec Signal Transduction in Neurons

Two Neurons

Wires in the Brain Electrical impulses jump from neuron to neuron in the brain through their branching nerve fibers. This movement of electrical potentials is called signal transduction, and significantly resembles the process of electrical flow in printed circuit boards and semiconductor chips. Nerve fibers (axons and dendrites) are filled with a fluid called axoplasm. […]

15 Jun Natural Intelligence

Lateral Section of Brain

The Gross Anatomy of Smart The biology of understanding is not fully understood. But there are some things we can infer from what we know about how the brain works that may help us in modeling smarter systems. I love looking inside the brain for clues on what it does so I can help design […]