Reply to comment

 After our discussion on Thursday, it was a little hard to accept the fact that there are some outputs that do not have an input in the nervous system. This may be due to my long-held view that for every output there must have been an input. It might be possible that breathing occurs without an input, but to me it seems as though the input is just not consciously recognized. And what about instincts? Is there some unconscious trigger? Or does it really happen on its own? In my psychology class we talked about some evolutionary support for instincts. So does that mean that evolution is the input? Despite my hesitancy to accept this model of the nervous system, I am trying to keep an open mind about this.

On a different note, I found it very fascinating that architecture is everything: that the way neurons, the same neurons in every animal, are connected accounts for the differences between a human and a frog brain. And that within the same species (i.e. humans) the connections vary enough that we are all different.

I also found an interesting podcast about learning and memory that was on NPR’s Science Friday last month.

http://public.npr.org/anon.nprmp3/npr/totn/2010/01/20100108_totn_05.mp3?sc=16&orgId=1&forsearch=0&topicId=1045&_kip_ipx=1512029001-1265590644