About:
Exploring new approaches to machine hosted
neural-network simulation, and the science
behind them.
Your moderator:
John Repici
A programmer who is obsessed with giving experimenters
a better environment for developing biologically-guided
neural network designs. Author of
an introductory book on the subject titled:
"Netlab Loligo: New Approaches to Neural Network
Simulation". BOOK REVIEWERS ARE NEEDED!
Can you help?
Semantically, as described by Chalmers in this paper, it is helpful to understand that there are many connotations, or types, of consciousness. First and foremost, there is phenomenological (a.k.a. "hard problem") consciousness. This is the one we all have a front row seat to, but have not been able to describe in a non-subjective way.
There are other types of consciousness as well. These are what Chalmers refers to as the "easy problem" forms of consciousness. These are the ones that often trip us up when talking about consciousness. Chalmers lists some examples of these:
the ability to discriminate, categorize, and react to environmental stimuli;
the integration of information by a cognitive system;
the reportability of mental states;
the ability of a system to access its own internal states;
the focus of attention;
the deliberate control of behavior;
the difference between wakefulness and sleep.
Reading philosophy doesn't make one any less of a scientist. After all, science is —itself— a philosophy.
Oliver Sacks was a neurologist who has been a great contributor to the converging fields of cognition, neuro-science, , and, indirectly, to the science of mind, and to furthering our understanding of consciousness.
New technique enables nanoscale-resolution microscopy of large biological specimens.
Most microscopes work by using lenses to focus light emitted from a sample into a magnified image. However, this approach has a fundamental limit known as the diffraction limit, which means that it can’t be used to visualize objects much smaller than the wavelength of the light being used. For example, if you are using blue-green light with a wavelength of 500 nanometers, you can’t see anything smaller than 250 nanometers.
“Unfortunately, in biology that’s right where things get interesting,”
Using their recently developed imaging technique, Stanford is able to make movies of journeys through a three-dimensional brain. The imaging technique produces features with functional attributes. As you travel through the three-dimensional world produced, you are able to discern structural features such as synapses, dendrites, and axons, while also seeing the types and characteristics of those features. I highly recommend you use full-screen mode to view this journey.
Here are some related links I have found interesting while surfing the Internet. These have been laying around for a while, so this entry—designed to clear out some cobwebs— may contain some stale data. I've tossed some, but others may be interesting to you, as well.
[yt] TEDx Talk on Why We Feel Pain by an Interesting Talker (Lorimer Moseley)
A discussion of how the possibility of pain is transmitted, and how those possibilities are evaluated by the brain when determining whether something should be perceived as pain... or not. I do agree with the basic premise, but not sure about that first example. It would be nice to see some experimental confirmation on that one.
[yt]Severed Corpus Callosum
A Scientific American (Frontiers) segment with Alan Alda and Dr. Michael Gazzaniga
Slime Mold
This concept is discussed in the book using a "Seven Step Explanation" (in the chapter on Consciousness). Breaking it down into a pithy statement for you: Adaptation is required to produce neurons — Neurons are NOT required to produce adaptation.
Stand Out Publishing
