Brain. They say that all people have it.
It is one of the most complex and incomprehensible organs of the human body. Even if it were much simpler, we still would not have been able to comprehend it, alas. Because then they themselves would be much stupider.
A powerful arsenal of modern technology and good old psychology have helped us make many discoveries about this mysterious object. However, the lump of gray matter between our ears holds so many mysteries that even the best neuroscientists scratch their heads in puzzlement.
How does a simple accumulation of cells create memories, feelings, consciousness? Think about what a miracle: electrical impulses of the brain, combined with certain words on the screen, can draw a green man in your imagination, induce you to THINKLY SCREAM THIS PHRASE, recognize meaningful words in some scribbles, in the end!
The greatest brains of neuroscience (pun intended) still fail to comprehend the driving force of our brains. Where does individuality come from? How do we distinguish sleep from wakefulness? Is free will just an illusion? Why is it incredibly difficult to replicate the workings of the brain - even on the most advanced supercomputers?
Where did he get such speed? - The amazing lightning speed of our brain still excites the minds of scientists
We constantly hear comparisons of the human brain to a supercomputer, but in reality, the brain is terribly slow. The rate at which signals are transmitted through it is approximately one millionth of the rate at which signals are transmitted in a computer.
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However, we recognize faces, songs, and even smells instantly, and it takes a lot longer for a computer - although technically faster. This paradoxical speed is probably due to the ability of the brain to process data in parallel. But how to explain this ability itself?
Why are multiple parallel processes complicated? The fact that they offer the same many different results at the same time. That is why the computer is slow to make a decision. However, the brain mysteriously sorts the results obtained at lightning speed and produces a single thought, behavioral reaction or memory.
Where does individuality come from? Nature or nurture? What makes us who we are?
We have a brain. Although it would be more accurate to say: we are our brain. It seems that it is this soft substance located in the head that hides our personality in itself (it would be wonderful if it was found, say, in the intestines). How does the brain make us us?
The eternal controversy: nature or nurture? What in our personality is determined by genes and psychology, and what is nurtured by the environment? The point is this: our personality is simply obliged to dwell in the brain, but for hundreds of years we have never been able to determine for sure a person's character by looking at his brain - and even more so, at genes.
Perhaps those who support the "upbringing side" in the eternal dispute are right? Is not a fact. Why then do people who grew up in the same environment have completely different personalities?
Why do we sleep and dream? Sleep or not sleep? That's the question
Sleep is extremely important, no questions asked. A considerable part of the day - and a third of our entire life - we are forced to spend in a state of unconsciousness and defenseless. It is not very convenient and sometimes risky, nevertheless all mammals, reptiles and birds sleep. We have no doubt that sleep is vital for us, but we have no idea why.
The main thing is that it is not clear how sleep generally gives us energy. We get it in the process of digesting food, but try replacing sleep with food - and you won't last long. While we sleep, we burn a decent amount of energy, but upon waking we feel fresher and more invigorated than before. How and why ?! This confuses scientists.
It's the same with dreams. There are plenty of versions about them: the disorderly firing of neurons, the translation of memories into long-term memory, deep learning … Nevertheless, dreams remain the same mystery today as they were a thousand years ago.
How are memories stored? How are they born and where do they go?
Well, quickly recall your breakfast yesterday, your first kiss, or your first day of school. Happened? But as? Where did you bring up these memories? Where were they?
Memories are stored in our brains in the form of some kind of code, like the contents of a computer hard drive. Probably. At least neuroscientists assume that memory works this way, because it cannot be otherwise. However, where do our memories actually reside when we don't think about them? Unknown.
In addition, there are several types of memory. One allows you to remember the first kiss, the other helps not to forget the name of a new acquaintance. But memory is not only a record of information, but also a way of using it. For example, remembering the appearance of one particular cat helps to recognize other cats - even if they have a different color, strange size and lack of paws. Not only that, you can even imagine a cat that doesn't exist! In this respect, memory and imagination are very similar.
Memories are not thought to be stored as disparate "binary codes" like information in a computer - rather, they arise from various combinations of firing neurons. We still don't know how memories are formed at all, why they selectively disappear, and where their evil counterparts (fakes) come from.
Are we just computers? So far, artificial intelligence loses to the human brain
It is widely believed today that the human brain is essentially a classical information processor. Computer. Highly advanced and perfect - but a computer.
If so, then we can reproduce artificial human intelligence in a machine. With the proper level of detail and complexity, such a computer would have human consciousness and would be completely indistinguishable from living intelligence.
However, not everyone believes in this. Many are convinced that the brain cannot be calculated and that no amount of reverse engineering can help us recreate it. Some experts say that an organic brain is fundamentally different from a computer. After all, the functioning of the brain is based on the nonlinear interaction of billions of cells, while in the computer there are only zeros and ones of the binary code.
The human brain is capable of processing some data, but not others. If we figure out what is the difference between them, then we will surely find the key to understanding the brain, all its secrets and mysteries.
Do we have free will? Who controls us? Are we not ourselves?
Free will is an abstract concept. It can hardly be seen on a magnetic resonance imaging scan. And in general, does it belong to the field of neurobiology? Or is it to philosophy? Who knows … Scientists have watched, observed how philosophers have been breaking spears on this matter for thousands of years, and decided to join. The result was not very comforting.
Research began back in the eighties of the twentieth century, later they were repeated using the most modern technologies. The subjects were asked to perform arbitrary finger movements. So, the brain activity of the "test subjects" showed: their subconscious mind "played" the action a whole second before the consciousness was connected.
Some conclude from this that free will is just an illusion, that the brain tricks us into “retroactively” believing in the voluntariness of our own actions and deeds. Others ignore the research evidence or disagree with this conclusion. However, the first suspect that the second is simply scared to believe in the conclusion of the first, and the reliability of the data has nothing to do with it.
Why does everything in the brain work so harmoniously and smoothly? Our brain perfectly combines many different processes
Neuroscientists are never tired of being amazed at how harmoniously the human brain works: after all, our every thought and every movement is born from a huge number of random electrical impulses. The brain receives different signals from different senses at different times. Can you imagine how difficult it is to cope with such an informational leapfrog?
Our brain is a great illusionist. Let's, for example, clap our hands in front of us. Light is known to travel faster than sound. However, the auditory system will process the signal faster than the visual one, and the order to clap (according to our reasoning about free will) will go to the body even before we even figure out anything. Just a frantic sequence of events! But the brain somehow organizes everything so flawlessly that we don't notice anything.
Imagine the precision and dexterity it takes to thread a needle, kick a ball, even type a message on your mobile phone! This requires the coordinated work of many systems of our body. And the brain copes with this task flawlessly.
What is Consciousness? The brain is an amazing and incomprehensible organ
This is perhaps the greatest mystery of the human mind: How does the brain create consciousness? The answer is not far off. A group of scientists even found an “on / off button” in the brain: when stimulated, the patient turns off and wakes up as soon as the stimulation is stopped. Only this does not explain what consciousness is.
Some believe that it is the product of many complex interconnections in the brain; others believe in some special point where "everything converges", and some even call consciousness a quantum effect. We simply do not know the correct answer.
Take morning, for example. The alarm clock is ringing. A second ago, you were still asleep, and now you are awake. How did this happen? What is the difference between the two states? Why does a strong blow to the head turn off our mysterious consciousness? And in general - do everyone "feel" their consciousness in the same way?
Okay, don't worry. The world around is an illusion. And you are just a brain in a glass jar.
Amazing, right? Try to solve at least one of these secrets - and grateful humanity will declare your brain the smartest!
