In the world of science, there is excited speculation about recent discoveries of individual neurons in the brain, with striking capabilities. They had discovered a neuron, which fired on recognition of just one special face. Scientists spotted this using microelectrodes, which could identify the firing of a single neuron. Buried deep in the amygdala of a female patient, they discovered the so-called "Bill Clinton" neuron. The cell fired on recognizing three very different images of the former President; a line drawing of a laughing Clinton; a formal painting depicting him; and a photograph of him in a crowd. The cell remained mute when the patient viewed images of other politicians and celebrities. In other patients, scientists found similar cells that responded selectively to actors, including Jennifer Anniston, Brad Pitt, and Halle Berry.
Most neuroscientists had believed that specific nerve cells handled individual pixels as on a television screen. Suddenly, a single neuron could identify Clinton. Could there be a "thinking neuron?" Scientists felt it impossible for an individual cell to be clever enough to make sense of a concept as subtle as Clinton. Even the world's fastest supercomputers would have difficulty performing that pattern-recognition feat. So, how could a single neuron ever learn to recognize a President? Such speculation on the nature of neurons continued ceaselessly in scientific circles. This was surprising. How could scientists remain blind to the significance of the Nobel Prize awarded in 2004 to Lynda Buck for the discovery of the recognition processes in the olfactory system?
There, Buck had already reported a "Sweat" neuron and an "Orange" neuron. Those experiments concerned the recognition of smells. She reported that octanol smelled like oranges and octanoic acid, like sweat, even though their chemical structures were similar. Yet, different neurons fired for each smell. Was this just more evidence of thinking neurons? Yet, Buck had a simple explanation. The olfactory system recognized different combinations of firing for different odors. First, a single receptor recognized multiple odorants. Second, a single odorant was recognized by multiple receptors. And third, different odorants were recognized by different combinations of receptors. It was this combinatorial coding system, which enabled the olfactory system to recognize millions of odors. So, there were Sweat neurons, Rose neurons and Orange neurons. And millions more. Could it be that Clinton and Berry neurons were no different?
Was it only the olfactory system, which used combinatorial coding? The mind received kaleidoscopic combinations of millions of sensations. Could instant combinatorial recognition extended beyond the olfactory system? Could it be the essence of the neural system? A new book, The Intuitive Algorithm, suggested just this. The mind used combinatorial coding and pattern recognition to propel recognition through many neural regions like a lightning streak. The mind saw, recognized, interpreted and acted. Data was reported to move from input to output in a bare 20 milliseconds. In the blink of eye. Myriad processes converted light, sound, touch and smell instantly into your nerve impulses. Special regions recognized those combinations as objects and events. The limbic system, another region, interpreted those events to generate emotions. A fourth region responded to those emotions with actions. The mind perceived, identified, evaluated and acted. Pattern recognition and combinatorial coding got you off the hot stove in a fraction of a second.
Abraham Thomas is the author of The Intuitive Algorithm, a book, which suggests that intuition is a pattern recognition algorithm. This leads to an understanding of the powerful forces that control your mind. The ebook version is available at http://www.intuition.co.in. The book may be purchased only in India. The website, provides a free movie and a walk through to explain the ideas.
Can we hibernate humans using hydrogen sulfide gas for long-term... Read More
As scientists and theorists study patterns, design, chaos, complexity they... Read More
We propose a Stealth Aircraft or non-stealth composite aircraft to... Read More
Air has 750 times less density as the oceans, yet... Read More
Energy ESP #7 - America and its Collision CourseCrude oil... Read More
There appears to be a way to control the safety... Read More
Travertine is a compacted form of limestone that forms in... Read More
Well many people out there are asking is there really... Read More
What is a UUV? UUV is the abbreviation given to... Read More
Surely, in the days before man invented artificial light, moths... Read More
If we bring the locusts to a feasting area of... Read More
We propose single man underwater vehicles (attack submarines), which have... Read More
Cleaning Plexiglas windows is not easy, you have to be... Read More
We can genetically modify a rat to be the same... Read More
Talking glass, which was featured recently in the famous Tom... Read More
Tree hugging is a thing of the past. It is... Read More
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles should be shot down from the air... Read More
We have often been asked where wax comes from? Well... Read More
The HarmonicIn a good history book by a leading light... Read More
Scientists have discovered chemicals, which cause humans to go into... Read More
Recently some NASA Scientists were able to fly a MAV;... Read More
How to launch hundreds of UAVs for an autonomous mission... Read More
As man learns to make machines that no longer rely... Read More
Let's describe this idea as a Self Generating a Tsunami-Perpetual... Read More
Albert Einstein had just administered an examination to an advanced... Read More
"It is clear that modern medicine has created a serious... Read More
Visual limits of the human brain and the visual processing... Read More
Our oceans are home to many marine mammals, fish, turtles,... Read More
DNA testing is routinely used in immigration cases to prove... Read More
If we are to tackle the challenges of future populations... Read More
When Manufacturing nets of any type: Going for strength and... Read More
You see the cities in America started where there was... Read More
If we take the menace, nuisance and destructive Locust, we... Read More
I am beginning to wonder if scientists have been getting... Read More
We need to design tiny robotic bees, which can mimic... Read More
Recently scientists have discovered the hydrogen sulfide gas caused mice... Read More
We have often been asked where wax comes from? Well... Read More
Perhaps we should design tunneling robots, which can dig out... Read More
Braden is quite wrong when he says the initiations to... Read More
It is a pretty well known fact and has been... Read More
One future problem, which has not sufficiently been addressed, is... Read More
Destruction! Blow Up! Eliminate! These are not pleasant words!Unfortunately, when... Read More
In the world of science, there is excited speculation about... Read More
ALTERNATE AND PARALLEL UNIVERSES: - The modern science of physics... Read More
ATHENS - GREECE, -- An individual person called Basil Dimitropoulos,... Read More
INSPIRATIONAL COMMENTS:"There is a principle which is a bar against... Read More
In recent years, much research has been devoted to the... Read More
100 years ago Albert Einstein developed his Relativity Theory of... Read More
Solar power will be necessary for space exploration and off... Read More
We need solutions to our drought crisis in this country.... Read More
Fundamental elements of life and the aspects of cloning bring... Read More
Well it is written that God created man 5000 years... Read More
The dawn of the DNA testBack in the 1700s, the... Read More
In History and Science:INSPIRATIONAL COMMENTS:"Everybody was glad that I was... Read More
1. Air dry your laundry.2. Ask your utility companies for... Read More
ASTROPHYSICS: - Many other entries will deal with knowledge from... Read More
Naval blockade using polymer goo to stop fleeing ships might... Read More
We need a better vision system for the battlespace; an... Read More
Since its discovery 20 years ago, the use of DNA... Read More
You see the cities in America started where there was... Read More
By allowing high altitude Satellite Type Balloons or Blimps with... Read More
DNA Profiling and Its Uses in CourtStronger evidence in courtrooms-it's... Read More
Animation of personified reality is intriguing, memorable and interesting as... Read More
Albert Einstein had just administered an examination to an advanced... Read More
An electric current produces a magnetic field. This is the... Read More
What happens if the world is faced with a Pandemic,... Read More
Science Articles |