How are Brains Structured?

by Robert Lawrence Kuhn (9/27/10 10:09 pm)

My inner self, my private sense of “I”—of this I am more sure than I am of anything else. How to understand this consciousness, this internal mental experience of an external physical world? What possibly could generate, create, cause it?
We know to begin with the brain. Biological brains are the most complex form of matter in the universe (as far as we know), and the human brain, three pounds, 75 percent water, is the pinnacle. How brains make their magic is just astonishing.
How to understand the brain? I start with brain structure, and to do so, I return to my roots, the Brain Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, where more than 40 years ago I did my doctorate in brain research. Although my career went off in other directions, I’ve always followed advances in the brain sciences, and in my personal self-conception, if this means anything, I’ve always considered myself more as a lapsed brain scientist than an investment banker or writer.
I recently visited three of my former professors at UCLA, to whom I owe much: Carmine Clemente, a distinguished neuroanatomist whose research focused on central brain mechanisms related to sleep and wakefulness and behaviors like sexuality and feeding (he is also the editor of Gray’s Anatomy);Arnold Scheibel, a professor of neurobiology and psychiatry, and an expert in relating function and malfunction to the organization and structure of brain cells; and John Schlag, a neurophysiologist who has shown clear relationships between various motor behaviors and detailed electrophysiology of specific brain areas. It was wonderful seeing them again, and it made me realize once more how tightly brain and behavior are connected.
What is it about brain structure, I reflected, that can make all this consciousness and self and stuff happen? To oversimplify:

At the macro level of brain systems, it’s:
• symmetry and subtle asymmetries between sides—left and right brains are both similar and different
• specificity in function—different brain areas do different things
• plasticity in development—brains remodel and revise continuously.

At the micro level of brain cells, it’s:
• dozens of billions of neurons (nerve cells)
• trillions of connections between them
• incalculable permutations of electrochemical communications.

Christof Koch, a professor of biology and engineering at the California Institute of Technology, and a pioneer in investigating the “neural correlates of consciousness,” explains why the analogy of a brain to a computer falls off. In a computer’s central processing unit, the transistor equivalents are pretty much alike, whereas in a biological brain, there are many different kinds of nerve cells and different kinds of macro brain areas. This structure is a fundamentally distinguishing characteristic of biological brains.
And brain structure is not as rigid and inflexible as was once the accepted wisdom. New nerve cells are being created constantly in adults, and there is tremendous brain plasticity, as the fascinating work of Michael Merzenich of the University of California, San Francisco has shown, particularly in developing the basic science for cochlear implants, which enable deaf people to hear. (That the brain can learn to process input from artificial electronic signals and make them into meaningful sounds is remarkable evidence of the brain’s plasticity and adaptability.)
But our internal sense of “I,” believes Rodolfo Llinas, chairman of the department of physiology and neuroscience at New York University, is created by the cyclical waves of recursive feedback between the cerebral cortex (that covers the brain and accounts for the conscious registration of our senses, movements, and thoughts) and the thalamus (a kind of central relay deep in the center of the brain). Llinas calls this system the “I of the Vortex,” and he makes the claim that this is consciousness.
To understand consciousness, we know to begin with brain. The next question, to me, is as difficult to answer as it is easy to ask: Do we end with the brain? Most scientists, but not all, think surely so. Most theologians, but not all, think surely no. There is no compromise here.
I chose to study the brain because only by means of the brain can we know anything at all. Understanding the brain certainly brings us closer to truth. But, I wonder, will it ever bring us all the way to truth?

Tags brain, structure, Koch, Merzenich, Llinas, Clemente, Scheibel

+ view all Discussions (12)

jlhinc23 wrote:

With regards to the question, "How are brains structured?" we can say that human infants are born with some "hard-wiring" or structuring in their brains, but they do not have a sense or concept of self (as older people do)--so this is something that is developed and acquired over time. (This is profound because most people do not realize that their normal sense of self and reality is constructed or created over time--so the personal 'me' that you know as 'you' is mostly (or perhaps fully) something made-up or something created--although there can be found traces of the 'real' you in these constructs).

Object-relations theory (as per developmental psychology) describes the process of how an infant's brain becomes structured--or how 'knowledge' is created (including knowledge of or pertaining to a "self" and knowledge of or pertaining to "reality"). As object-relations theory describes, all knowledge (and its corresponding mental structures) is comprised of a "triad" consisting of (1) an impression or representation of a self, (2) an impression or representation of an object, and (3) an affect (or emotional or energetic link between the two). After the first few years of life (4-5 years) the child hopefully develops stable mental structures which contain (1) 'knowledge' or a sense of a self (comprised of all of one's representations of self via object-relations; and leading to a stable and cohesive sense of self), (2) representations of external objects (which units forms one's overall representations of reality), and (3) an overall sense (i.e. sensation or feeling) of self and reality (as per the affects embedded or associated with the 'self' representations and 'object' representations). At this point it can be said that the child's (or adult's) consciousness is now embedded and experienced within these mental structures, frameworks, or mental representations of self and reality; and this becomes the critical point, in that consciousness becomes structuralized and experienced mainly (or only) via these structures or representations (i.e. knowledge) of self and reality; and because they are only representations of self and reality, and not the real thing, we (as adults) get a biased and subjective experience of self, reality and consciousness as it gets filtered and processed by the mind (its programing).

From this perspective, it now becomes clear that to "move closer to truth (or reality)" one must have the consciousness or ability to move beyond one's subjective, mental programs or representations in favor of being able to comprehend, perceive and/or experience an objective self and an objective reality, i.e., a self and a reality that can only exist and be appreciated and experienced fully in the present (as opposed to being framed and experienced via 'old' and subjective representations via the past).

So, somehow one must learn how to move beyond (or transcend, if you will) these mental structures (or mental programs) in favor of a purer, more real, and present-oriented experience of self and reality. (It is my understanding and experience that there are ways to do this but it is too complex to write about here; but for those who have actually experienced this phenomenon of 'breaking this barrier' i.e. the barrier of the mind, only you can appreciate its profound significance and truly know that this is where real consciousness can be found, where one's ontological self and ontological reality can be perceived and experienced).

Posted 7:50 PM / January 15, 2013

Derinos wrote:

When the brain ceases to exist on death, what is left of consciousness? During life, the coded electrical activity that accompanies consciousness is constantly transmitting an electromagnetic version of itself as a weak radio signal, spherically a wave-front moving at the speed of "light". Is that what remains of the "I" in the finite Universe?

Posted 6:19 AM / September 24, 2012

kaiwelp wrote:

The physicalist conjecture that Laplace's demon's knowledge is the ideal theory of the world is wrong. A theory of the world has to explain "What is it like to be something" What is the world like for" "What it is like to be something" ...on planet earth there is no such theory available.

Posted 3:19 AM / August 06, 2012

sridattadev wrote:

Dear Robert,
I can understand your interest in brain and nervous system to explore consciousness and I agree with you that brain has to play a major role in causal or relative consciousness. But the root of consciousness (absolute I or singularity or conscience) is in the heart. We as humans need to understand the key role of heart in consciousness. We can consider the Vortex at the center of the brain as the event horizon of a black hole which leads to the singularity in the heart. We can easily comprehend the I "am" in the brain but have to realize the absolute truth of I "is" in the heart. It is similar to how our scientific world can well describe the material universal outside of the event horizon of a black hole, but is unable to comprehend what goes on inside the black hole and at the singularity.
I "am" a verse and I "is" the uni, put together the Universe.

I have been following the work of several of the prominent scientists to come up with a theory of everything. It seems that in this search of everything, one most important thing has not been considered. Who am I? I am in this universe as much as it is in I. What is I? I is sphere full of love. Wisdom is more important than imagination is more important than knowledge, for all that we know is just an imagination chosen wisely. The language and the medium of this communication are also products of imagination. Reality as it seems can be termed as implementation of imagination. It is not mind over matter, it is only mind that matters. I am the sum total of my thoughts, I is the calculator.

According to E=MC^2, mass gets converted to energy when it travels at the speed of light. Thoughts travel faster than light. S=BM^2 (S-Soul, B-Body, M-Mind). Create a body with a thought, destroy the body with a thought and find the inner most self, Soul. We are not our bodies, we are not our minds, we are our inner most self (singularity). A great scientist once thought what would it be like to travel at the speed of light and came up with the theory of relativity, now it is our time to wonder on what would it be like to be the space-time itself or experience the singularity and realize the absolute theory of everything.

A simple mathematical equation to represent everything including nothing is zero = infinity, application of this simple fact will solve all other complex equations. This can be proved as follows.

0 + 0 = 0

0 - 0 = 0

0 * 0 = 0

0 / 0 = 0

and so on....

Zero remains constant in any relation to itself, no other number can remain constant while satisfying all the relations to itself.

I will use the character "~" to represent infinity and express the following equations.

~ + ~ = ~

~ - ~ = ~

~ * ~ = ~

~ / ~ = ~

and so on....

Also infinity is similar to zero and remains constant in relation to itself.
The same mathematical truth can be deduced as follows as well.

If 0 x 0 = 0 is true, then 0 / 0 = 0 is also true
If 0 x 1 = 0 is true, then 0 / 0 = 1 is also true
If 0 x 2 = 0 is true, then 0 / 0 = 2 is also true
If 0 x i = 0 is true, then 0 / 0 = i is also true
If 0 x ~ = 0 is true, then 0 / 0 = ~ is also true

It seems that mathematics, the universal language, is also pointing to the absolute truth that 0 = 1 = 2 = i = ~, where "i" can be any number from zero to infinity. We have been looking at only first half of the if true statements in the relative world. As we can see it is not complete with out the then true statements whic are equally true. As all numbers are equal mathematically, so is all creation equal "absolutely".

This proves that 0 = i = ~ or in words "absolutely" nothing = "relatively" everything or everything is absolutely equal. Singularity is not only relative infinity but also absolute equality. There is only one singularity or infinity in the relativistic universe and there is only singularity or equality in the absolute universe and we are all in it.

If universe is the meaning of understanding of one’s surroundings, then it is created with every birth and destroyed with every death. Universe is in a steady big bang state. Multiverse is just multiple interpretations made by bodies and minds of the conscience (soul or singularity). What one perceives of self (soul) is not the same as another, this is the multiverse with in the universe that we live in. The moment a thought arises the universe comes to existence. If one can still the mind to absoluteness then there will be absolutely nothing. This state of absoluteness is called Nirvana (Moksha), immortality. One who knows thy self is immortal.

If life is the meaning of our relative existence on this planet then we were all dead even before we were born, so why fear death as we all have already experienced death. On this planet only one being, human, seems to care for Time dimension while all other species do not. If we only understand the perception of other beings dimensions sharing this planet would we appreciate the beauty of it all. There can be as many dimensions as we choose to have. There is no space unless one chooses to measure and there is no time until one chooses to count. Time is the space between all of us and in time we shall all be one (singularity). Everything gravitate towards singularity or Absolutely nothing gravitates everything, which implies there is no gravity in singularity. For every action there is equal and opposite reaction, there is also inaction at the point of their interaction. It is this inaction or singularity in everything that creates the actions (anti gravity) and the consequent reactions (gravity).

Death is to a person, as black hole is to a star. As light cannot escape singularity and time does not exist beyond singularity, so does a dead person cannot see light or does not have perception of time. Dark Matter / Dark Energy are only as dark as our thoughts. Lets weigh our thoughts in and we would have the total mass / energy of the universe. The moment when one stops thinking is when one sees the true light of love in the heart. Some think that universe is expanding, some think that universe is contracting, some think that universe is eternal, I know that universe is what we want it to be.

As scientific explanation is the accepted medium for people to understand things, I have chosen this path to explain the true nature of our being. We are nothing but the result of our imagination. We can travel in space and time with our minds. The body we have is nothing but a space ship that is made for the journey on this planet, soul is the captain. Our brains are the best particle accelerators. I imagine that one day there will be only science of self realization at the highest realm of education converging all sciences, philosophy and religion. Altruistic science should be for enquiring (thinking about) the truth, philosophy for discussing the thoughts and religion for regulating the thoughts for greater good of all beings. I know that this will be done one way or another.

The theory of everthing is that there is absolutely nothing, God is absolute state of mind, soul that is everything and nothing, we are relative states of mind, bodies that are something in between. Happiness and sorrow are relative states of mind, absolute state of mind is peaceful.

Exploring thy self is plain, discovering thy self is not. Intelligence arises from conscience (birth or white hole or entaglement) and results in duality or virtual reality. Intelligence merges back with conscience (death or black hole or enlightenment) and results in singularity or absolute truth. Intelligence is relative and variable. Conscience is absolute and constant. Intelligence is digital in nature. Conscience is analog or continuous in nature. Intelligence is complex. Conscience is simple. Wisdom is the knowledge of conscience and application of intelligence in pursuit of peace and joy.
One is still in duality if one still thinks there is space and time besides one self. One attains singularity by knowing there is no space-time other than one self. Duality is voluntary like raising a thought in the brain, singularity is involuntary like a heart beat. Life is a combination of both of these experiences. As a father of three boys and being fully aware of my self, relatively speaking, isn't it true to say that I created the universe for them.

Truth is simple, accepting it is not.

I am relative I is absolute
I am phenomenon I is nuomenon
I am pi I is zero
I am 3-sphere of love I is n-sphere of love
I am geometry of love I is singularity of love
I am variant I is constant
I am finite I is infinite
I am present I is omnipresent
I am potent I is omnipotent
I am scient I is omniscient
I am mortal I is immortal
I am transcendental I is eternal
I am matter I is ether
I am observed I is the observer
I am dual I is single
I am digital I is analog
I am mind and body I is the soul
I am in the brain I is in the heart
I am intelligent I is the conscience
I am in space-time I is the space-time
I am sound I is the silence
I am visible I is invisible
I am light I is dark
I am asleep I is awake
I am a dream I is the dreamer
I am in peace I is in love
I am human I is god
I am one of our kind I is everyone of all kinds
I am something I is nothing and everything
I am virtual reality I is absolute truth

Love,
Sridattadev.

Posted 8:46 AM / March 29, 2012

john2004 wrote:

I worked on AI theory for a while and in the process of looking at my own inner experience, I feel consciousness is a fairly simple phenomenon that is easily implemented in an AI.

Consciousness is more than awareness. I mean consciousness is the awareness of yourself from the inside. It is a knowledge of who, what, why, when and where, as they apply to you personally. It is the sense of time and place that your brain creates as a matter of course. Disconnect that source of personal information and you would just sit there aware of different things like vision, hot and cold, hunger, pleasure and pain, but there would not be a person present.

In an AI, it would be implemented by a feed back loop from the awareness center, through a delay path and then dumped back into the awareness center. .In an human or animal, a data reduced version of your experience is delayed ( by the 0.1 second minimum update cycle of the human brain) and then becomes part of your experience in the present moment. The delay is the key. it gives you information from the immediate past as if it were real time experience. And that information contains even older information from earlier loops. I suspect specific types of information get looped with different compression rates depending on the perceived value of the information. Your sense of time comes from these repeated memories of "time" by way of this loop. You 'feel' the passage of time as these memories fade away as the experiences continue to loop.

All this is subconscious. Sort of a hardwired feature of advanced brains. You can not control this memory loop. It is not the same thing as either long or short term memory. It is a third thing. You only 'feel' this memory as if your immediate past experiences were real in the same way you experience the room about you as if that were real.

Think about it. If you suddenly stopped getting information about what you had been doing, what your goals had been, where you left hand was a moment ago, who you were talking to, and so on, would you really be here? You would be an awareness lost in an eternal now with only short and long term memory of someone's life that had no connection to you in this moment. Sort of like our present day AI's operate now.

Anyway, if a AI needs to be conscious, just add a loop and feed a copy of what it experiences in real time through a tight feedback delay and then add it back in as another experience. Instant consciousness.

Posted 6:49 PM / October 13, 2011

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