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Single Idea 2952

[filed under theme 15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 8. Brain ]

Full Idea

It is estimated by Gierer (1988) that the human cerebral cortex alone contains about 300,000,000,000,000 synaptic junctions.

Clarification

Note that is the numerous junctions. The number of neurons is much smaller

Gist of Idea

A 1988 estimate gave the brain 3 x 10-to-the-14 synaptic junctions

Source

Michael Lockwood (Mind, Brain and the Quantum [1989], p.46)

Book Ref

Lockwood,Michael: 'Mind,Brain and the Quantum:The Compound 'I'' [Blackwell 1991], p.46


A Reaction

As we grasp the vastness of this number, and the fact that the junctions are all active, the idea that a brain does something astonishing is not quite so surprising.


The 15 ideas with the same theme [philosophically interesting features of the brain]:

The directive centre is located in the whole head [Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch]
Do we think and experience with blood, air or fire, or could it be our brain? [Plato]
The brain has no responsibility for sensations, which occur in the heart [Aristotle]
Stopping the heart doesn't terminate activity; pressing the brain does that [Galen, by Cobb]
Nerves and movement originate in the brain, where imagination moves them [Descartes]
Researching phenomenal consciousness is peculiar, because the concepts involved are peculiar [Papineau]
A 1988 estimate gave the brain 3 x 10-to-the-14 synaptic junctions [Lockwood]
Pain doesn't have one brain location, but is linked to attention and emotion [Carter,R]
Proper brains appear at seven weeks, and neonates have as many neurons as adults do [Carter,R]
In primates, brain size correlates closely with size of social group [Carter,R]
A conscious state endures for about 100 milliseconds, known as the 'specious present' [Edelman/Tononi]
The brain is not passive, and merely processing inputs; it is active, and intervenes in the world [Cobb]
There is a single mouse neuron which has 862 inputs and 626 outputs [Cobb]
Single neurons can carry out complex functions [Seth]
The cerbellum has a huge number of neurons, but little involvement in consciousness [Seth]