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Lyndsey C's picture

Yay Giants! (and neurobiology)

I think the idea that "the brain is a nested set of input/output boxes, and that it is the organization of these boxes that is responsible for behavior," is a pretty accurate assumption. So far, we've been talking a lot about "getting it less wrong," and I think this is the very first step in understanding neurobiology because this fact enables us to open a whole new window of understanding about how the brain works. The spaghetti bowl metaphor we have been talking about is only the beginning of what will eventally lead us to more specific processes that lead to behavior.

I was talking to a friend at dinner about the fact that only 1% of our neurons are sensory and motor neurons, and that really astonished us because we think and act based on our environment, which is perceived through sensory and motor activity. What are all the interneruons doing? Are they specialized? We were also wondering what happens to a brain on LSD since many of the drugs effects are related to heightened sensory experience. I don't know much about brain activity, but obviously something is happening to the neurotransmitters, so Im guessing maybe the sensory neurons fire more raipidly? Or is there decreased inhibition of certain neurons?

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