Category: Uncategorized
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Vision and Flickering States
As soon as you open your eyes, the regions of activity in the default mode network begin to decrease activity. Well, that’s exactly what happens to alpha activity on the EEG. We say alpha attenuates, which means decreases amplitude. At the same time this network turns off. Should you begin working on a task, say…
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Anatomy of Default Mode
I have included the parts of the brain that are active, mainly consuming Oxygen at which time the subjects are in a state of awake, eyes closed, restful waking. Images are a sort of average over many individual subjects. The red areas are mostly in the midline in the front of the brain, the Medial…
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Default State: EEG
I came of age in neurology before clinicians had the means to show activity in specific parts of the brain as can be done now with PET and fMRI. In the late 20th century neurologists discussed restful eyes-closed waking. We used the EEG to follow alterations in mental states. Being any movement at all would…
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States
The first mental state is the Default Mode Network. This symmetric anatomic brain area found on brain metabolic studies such as fMRI and PET outlined by Marcus Raichle et al 2001. Their human subjects were scanned, eyes closed, generally thinking of nothing. When I first came upon this description I thought, that is exactly the…
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Limits of Cognition (Computation, Understanding)
Halting Problem: The idea of General Intelligence applicable to all problems has given rise to AGI, Artificial General Intelligence, computer simulation of human thought. Computers have bested humans in limited areas such as factory work, and games like chess,GO and Jeopardy. It isn’t clear that a AI will replace total or General Human Intelligence. AGI…
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Escape from AI is the Same as Screentime
Interview Joanna Stern and Mira Murato and Sam Altman. Seems that AI mostly might be edging toward personal assistant model. But Altman and Murato are not deluding themselves about replacing humans and omnipresent question talking about AI in fact making it a point that humans will always need to interact with fellow biologicals. I noticed…
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Hebbian Heart
Hebbian Cardiac Remodeling in Cardiac Arrhythmia paneuro@usa.net / September 25, 2021 Muscle Learning in the heart and muscle. In 1949 Donald Hebb famously proposed in the book, The Organization of Behavior a revolutionary idea: Activation of pre-synaptic neurons leads to strengthening connections between neurons. This idea immediately gave birth to a physiologic model for learning.…
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Nature’s Prescription: Why we need to reconnect with the natural world
Nature’s Prescription: Why we need to reconnect with the Natural World Well, well, well! Look at you, finishing up a basic biology text and gaining all sorts of new knowledge. That’s impressive, especially considering you last tackled this subject over 50 years ago! But hold on tight, because it turns out you’re not as up-to-date…
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What’s the Same about REM and Locked-In Syndrome
REM and Locked-In Syndrome: REM (rapid eye movement-dream) sleep is similar to locked-in syndrome. How? Locked-in syndrome is rare fortunately, usually caused by a stroke, destroys part of the pons in the brainstem, and a person can’t move but they breathe and vertical eye movements are preserved. They are awake, thinking and imagining. More than…
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Bee Swarms
I was relieved reading in the NYT of an increase in bee swarms in the United Kingdom. I lived through the age of bee colony collapse disorder. At the time people worried pollinators would be no more. It disturbs me that no single cause was ever found so as to avoid it in the future.…