From: Philip Jonkers (ephilution@attbi.com)
Date: Thu 17 Oct 2002 - 20:21:11 GMT
Joe:
> It's my interpretation of how it might work. Any particular synapse might
> be either dampened or excited by a plethora of different ideas,
> corresponding to many different excitation/dampening patterns in which
> that particular synapse might play a part, just as a letter may be used in
> many different words. What is important for the identity of the meme is
> the overall excitation/dampening pattern to which it corresponds.
> We must also remember that repetition of an idea causes increased
> electrical stimulation of the neurons and synapses involved in a
> particular pattern; this in turn stimulates the production of the MAP-2
> protein, which catalyzes the strengthening of the myelin sheaths of the
> corresponding synapses, and the growth of new dendritic connections.
> This is accepted, in neuroscience, as a neural correlate of the learning
> process.
Just a minute Joe. Myelin sheaths are to be found at the axons of neurons
last I heard. The function of myelin sheaths is to facilitate faster
transmission of action potentials originating from the axon hillock at the
soma of the neuron. One of the big pillars of neuroscience is that learning
(something) is reflected in adaptation of synapse strengths (serving as
communication relays between connected neurons).
Phil
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