Single Idea 2952

[catalogued under 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 Reference

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.