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From: embronne@cs.vu.nl (Bronneberg EM)
Subject: Re: Men : Analogical or Digital ?
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Date: Thu, 29 Jun 1995 08:03:27 GMT
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: > Snippin' it all.

: I see.  So, NO would fall into a class of "exciter" or, equivalently, is
: the agent of chemical predisposition?

: (Smell any smoke??...Im thinking.)
: Hypothetical Scenario:
:    In a group of 2 neurons, N1 & N2: 
:        2 chemical agents exist, A & B.
:        10 molecules of chemical A are required to cause N2 to fire.
:        N2 may absorb 2 molecules of B, substituting for 5 molecules of A  
:            External (START EVENT) and (N1 TRIGGER) events effect N1         
: Algorithm:
:        (Rest State)
:            (START EVENT)
:        N1 saturates its environment with B in response to START EVENT
:        N2 absorbs 2 molecules of B
:        (N1 TRIGGER)
:            N1 responds to TRIGGER by firing, saturating the synaptic junction
:        with A, a neurotransmitter.
:        N2 absorbs 5 molecules of A and achieves its threshold
:        (N2 FIRE EVENT)
:            The (N2 FIRE EVENT) breaks down A and B.
:            N1 pumps Na ions out of neuron, recharging
:            N2 pumps Na ions out of neuron, recharging
:    (Rest State)   
: I believe that this sequence is, overall, a digital event sequence not an
: analog one. The molecular actions of chemical agents on neurons are pretty
: clearly discrete events, hence can be considered digital. The act of
: pumping Na ions implies that some discrete quantity of ions must be
: removed from the neuron (or placed outside the neuron cell membrane) to
: achieve an activated state.
: i.e.:  
:    for some integer number, n, of Na ions:
:    n   ions are not sufficient to charge the neuron.
:        n+1 ions is sufficient, and the neuron is charged 
:    then the state change between discharged and charged 
:         is clearly binary.
:    
: Comments??
:                   ?;-)    marcoj@ai.rl.af.mil

Hey, this is really cool. As I said before I don't know whether the brain is
analogical or digital. It's just that information may be transferred in other
ways then firing neurons. I don't seem to have made that clear with my
NO-example, since you keep on focusing on this. You could be right, but
don't forget that things we don't see/know yet, may still exist.

Greetings, Miel.
embronne@cs.vu.nl
