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At the end of class last Thursday we were beginning a discussion of how the nervous system does not only involve the generation of outputs from inputs (whether it occurs at sensory or motor neurons) , but also the generation of inputs as a result of already-generated outputs. I realize that we are only in the beginning stages of our discussion of this matter, but I have already begun to wonder: what comes first in this sort-of feedback loop, the input or the output?

I can physically take notes in class, which would be a motor output. I can watch my physical output, I can feel the pen in my hand, and I can make note of the characters on the page, all written in blue ink. These would all be sensory inputs based on my output. But this output of mine also required an input...some sort of stimulus to take notes in the first place. It almost appears that the input-output loop inevitably links the two together. We decided, however, that inputs and outputs can BOTH happen in the nervous system without the existence of each other...maybe they're just the result of leaky membranes or channels.

The issue of the leaky membrane seems like it doesn't exactly fit into this potential 'loop' that I was pondering....which would negate the 'chicken or the egg' analogy. Could we begin to think, then, that leaky channels are not necessary PART of these loops...but just 'loop intiators'? Maybe a leaky membrane in my mind causes me to think of neuroscience question in class...and THEN I generate my motor output (writing down the question), which allows me to have visual and tactile input (my written characters themselves). This was a fictitious scenario...but maybe that is where the leaky channels could fit in? I hope to discover whether the input-output system is actually a loop, if it is a consistent loop, and how each type of input or output could or could not fit into this loop/system!