Decoding the Brain’s Cacophony

[groovedaddy]

ST. HELENA, Calif. — The scientists exchanged one last look and held their breath.

Everything was ready. The electrode was in place, threaded between the two hemispheres of a living cat’s brain; the instruments were tuned to pick up the chatter passing from one half to the other. The only thing left was to listen for that electronic whisper, the brain’s own internal code.

The amplifier hissed — the three scientists expectantly leaning closer — and out it came, loud and clear.

“We all live in a yellow submarine, yellow submarine, yellow submarine ....”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/science/telling-the-story-of-the-brains-cacophony-of-competing-voices.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha210

[I Have A Dream]

1. Very interesting.

I'd love to learn more.

Thank you for posting this.

[valerief]

2. Interesting. I liked this section:

In one study, for instance, he and Joseph LeDoux, then a graduate student, showed a patient two pictures: The man’s left hemisphere saw a chicken claw; his right saw a snow scene. Afterward, the man chose the most appropriate matches from an array of pictures visible to both hemispheres. He chose a chicken to go with the claw, and a shovel to go with the snow. So far, so good.

But then Dr. Gazzaniga asked him why he chose those items — and struck gold. The man had a ready answer for one choice: The chicken goes with the claw. His left hemisphere had seen the claw, after all. Yet it had not seen the picture of the snow, only the shovel. Looking down at the picture of the shovel, the man said, “And you need a shovel to clean out the chicken shed.”

The left hemisphere was just concocting an explanation, Dr. Gazzaniga said. In studies in the 1980s and ’90s, he and others showed that the pattern was consistent: The left hemisphere takes what information it has and delivers a coherent tale to conscious awareness. It happens continually in daily life, and most everyone has caught himself or herself in the act — overhearing a fragment of gossip, for instance, and filling in the blanks with assumptions.

It makes me wonder why some people feel a need to fill in those gaps more than other people. Some people are more certain about things, e.g., religion or politics, than others.

[Gregorian]

3. I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

I guess it's because I've been hanging out with very bright, scientific minded people. And then I am also running into (or becomingaware of) people who jump to conclusions. In fact, most people I meet jump to conclusions. I don't know how juries come to valid conclusions with these people around. It's amazing how much people abandon logic.

[Esra Star]

4. Yes

very good question. I think all intelligent beings try to make sense of all
inputs, but most trivial things get swamped by the next input.
So this means that most questions end up in the bewilderment receptacle.
Maybe if that gets too full, its annoying, so we go to defensive rationalisation mode.
Dunno
Jes finkin'

[1620rock]

5. Goddamnit I hate when they experiment on animals, couldn't they use a Republican or something?

[lonestarnot]

6. Here here!