Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Goodbye Network Metaphors
It looks like communication between neurons tends to be a little more chaotic then the very pretty neural net model, with neurons only discharging electric pulses that they pick up. Now it’s believed that neurons release neurotransmitters “into the wild” of the surrounding tissue where they can influence neighbors. The idea of the diffusion of neurotransmitters might do some damage to the typical brain-as-computer metaphor.