Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

Taghuman brain

the-universe-inside-us-the-profile-of-a-young-woman-and-space-the-effect-of-double-exposure-scientific-concept-the-brain-and-creativity-elements-of-this-image-furnished-by-nasa-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
The universe inside us, the profile of a young woman and space, the effect of double exposure. scientific concept. The brain and creativity. Elements of this image furnished by NASA
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post
Author
News
Date
November 18, 2020
Categorized
Neuroscience, Science
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Study: The Human Brain and the Universe Are Remarkably Similar

It looks as though the universe is not random but rather patterned in the way it unfolds
News
November 18, 2020
Neuroscience, Science

Recently, Franco Vazza, an astrophysicist at the University of Bologna and Alberto Felleti, a neurosurgeon at the University of Verona, decided to compare the network of human brain cells and the network of galaxies in our universe. Even though the universe is 27 orders of magnitude bigger than a singe human brain, remarkable similarities emerged: The human brain functions thanks to its wide neuronal network that is deemed to contain approximately 69 billion neurons. On the other hand, the observable universe is composed of a cosmic web of at least 100 billion galaxies. Within both systems, only 30% of their masses are composed of galaxies and neurons. Within both systems, galaxies and neurons arrange themselves in long filaments or nodes…

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Male Corpus Callosum Brain Anatomy - blue concept
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post
Author
News
Date
November 11, 2020
Categorized
Neuroscience
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How Can People Lead Normal Lives Without a Connected Brain?

Roughly 25% of people who lack the brain’s transfer station between the hemispheres live normal lives
News
November 11, 2020
Neuroscience

Roughly one in 4,000 people lacks a corpus callosum, the structure of neural fibers that transfers information between the brain’s two hemispheres. Surprisingly, the 25% who have nothing but cerebrospinal fluid do not show signs of abnormality. About half have some brain-related problems and the remaining 25% have serious problems. Researchers wanted to know, how does anyone manage to live normally without a corpus callosum to connect the two hemispheres of the brain? It turns out that the human brain goes into high gear, organizing a fix: In a study published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, neuroscientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) discovered that when the neuronal fibres that act as a bridge between the hemispheres are missing, the…

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Brain doodle illustration with textures
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post
Author
News
Date
October 11, 2020
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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Your Mind vs. Your Brain: Ten Things To Know

Although we are only beginning to understand the workings of the brain, it clearly isn't the same thing as the mind
News
October 11, 2020
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Here are some reasons why they aren’t really the same: 1.Is the human brain unique in some way? Yes, but not so much in its structure as in the things we do with it. For example, the human, mouse, and fly brains all use the same basic mechanisms, which is a bit of a puzzle, considering the different things we do with our brains. The human brain is bigger than most. But then lemurs performed as well as chimps on the primate cognitive test battery (a primate intelligence test) and lemurs only have brains that are 1/200th the size of chimps’ brains. So, what we humans are doing differently from lemurs and chimps doesn’t depend wholly on brain size either.…

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Closeup of housefly
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post
Author
News
Date
October 3, 2020
Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience
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Human, Mouse, and Fly Brains All Use the Same Basic Mechanisms

The study of brains in recent decades has yielded a very different picture from the patterns we might have expected
News
October 3, 2020
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

With differing outcomes, of course: A new study led by researchers from King’s College London has shown that humans, mice and flies share the same fundamental genetic mechanisms that regulate the formation and function of brain areas involved in attention and movement control. News Centre, “Humans and flies employ very similar mechanisms for brain development and function” at King’s College London (August 3, 2020) We might have expected a gradual increase in size and complexity, corresponding with ability, leading up to the human brain. But we have learned from recent research that lemurs, with brains 1/200 the size of chimps’, pass same IQ test (the Primate Cognition Test Battery). Human intellectual abilities are orders of magnitude greater than that of…

close-up-view-of-robot-playing-chess-selective-focus-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
close-up view of robot playing chess, selective focus
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
August 27, 2020
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Bingecast: Robert J. Marks on the Limitations of Artificial Intelligence

Robert J. Marks and Larry L. Linenschmidt
August 27, 2020

Robert J. Marks talks with Larry L. Linenschmidt of the Hill Country Institute about nature and limitations of artificial intelligence from a computer science perspective including the misattribution of creativity and understanding to computers. Other Larry L. Linenschmidt podcasts from the Hill Country Institute are available at HillCountryInstitute.org. We appreciate the permission of the Hill Country Institute to rebroadcast this…

walnut-split-on-a-white-background-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
walnut split on a white background
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post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
June 2, 2020
Categorized
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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My Right Hemisphere Is An Atheist! No, Wait …

In reality, split-brain surgery does not split consciousness in any meaningful sense
Michael Egnor
June 2, 2020
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

The atheist neuroscientist who has made bizarre claims about the outcomes of split brain surgery appears not to know much about neurosurgery.

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The concept of rational and irrational thinking of two people. Heads of two people with colourful shapes of abstract brain for concept of idea and teamwork. Two people with different thinking.
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post
Author
News
Date
March 4, 2020
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We Will Never “Solve” the Brain

A science historian offers a look at some of the difficulties we face in understanding the brain
News
March 4, 2020

In a forthcoming book, science historian Matthew Cobb suggests that we may need to be content with different explanations for different brain parts. And that the image of the brain as a computer is definitely on the way out.

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AdobeStock_288269759
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
January 2, 2020
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An AI Flash From the Past

Jim French and Robert J. Marks
January 2, 2020

Artificial intelligence has been in the news for a long time. Robert J. Marks airs one of his older interviews with Jim French on KIRO Radio to show the similarity to today’s reporting on artificial intelligence. Mind Matters News appreciates the permission of Jim French and KIRO Radio in Seattle to rebroadcast this interview. Show Notes 01:08 | Do computers…

Photo by Daniil Kuželev
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post
Author
News
Date
December 30, 2019
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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Researchers: Our Conscious Visual Perception Lies Outside Our Visual Cortex

They concluded that the end step of perceiving where objects are occurs in the frontal lobes, a finding they describe as “radical”
News
December 30, 2019
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

A major consequence of the advance of modern neuroscience is that we now “know” so much less than we used to. But what we do know points us in promising research directions.

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Happy African American guy in VR glasses
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
December 12, 2019
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Gee-Whiz Tech and AI Reality – Part I

Larry L. Linenschmidt and Robert J. Marks
December 12, 2019

Robert J. Marks talks with Larry L. Linenschmidt of the Hill Country Institute about the nature and limitations of artificial intelligence from a computer science perspective. This is Part 1 of 2 parts. Other Larry L. Linenschmidt podcasts from the Hill Country Institute are available at HillCountryInstitute.org. We appreciate the permission of the Hill Country Institute to rebroadcast this podcast…

Doctor using finger to hold a brain model with both hands in concept of taking care the brain
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post
Author
News
Date
September 20, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience
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Why the Brain Is Not at All like a Computer

Seeing the brain as a computer is an easy misconception rather than an informative image, says neuroscientist Yuri Danilov
News
September 20, 2019
Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience

As soon as you assume that each neuron is a microprocessor, says Danilov, you assume that there is a programmer. There is no programmer in the brain; there are no algorithms in the brain. However, it is "extremely painful" for many people to let go of the idea.

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MRI Image Brain On Black Background
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post
Author
News
Date
May 23, 2019
Categorized
Medicine and Health, Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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How the Injured Brain Heals Itself: Our Amazing Neuroplasticity

Jonathan Sackier is a pioneer in non-invasive techniques for speeding the healing of traumatic brain injuries
News
May 23, 2019
Medicine and Health, Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

People who have come back from catastrophic injuries like Bill Zoller's intrigue neuroscientists because they offer a glimpse into the neuroplasticity that enables the brain to restore lost functions, which we can learn to augment.

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AdobeStock_169158991
Human head in silhouette apparently on fire
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post
Author
News
Date
April 30, 2019
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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The Human Brain: Even Basic Facts Are Hotly Contested

Keep that in mind when AI boosters claim that their product will function like a human brain
News
April 30, 2019
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

When we read that “Scientists Are Closer to Making Artificial Brains That Operate Like Ours Do”, we might ask: If career researchers dispute the question of how the brain works at basic levels, how can non-experts be so sure they have replicated it?

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3D technology background with code over male head
3D render of a technology background with code over male head
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post
Author
Eric Holloway
Date
February 6, 2019
Categorized
Natural Intelligence
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The Brain Exceeds the Most Powerful Computers in Efficiency

Human thinking takes vastly less computational effort to arrive at the same conclusions.
Eric Holloway
February 6, 2019
Natural Intelligence
All of the tasks that AI accomplishes require a certain amount of memory, computational power, and time. We have a good enough understanding of the human brain to measure the same quantities used for the same tasks. Thus, we can measure the difference between what minds and machines require to solve the same problem. Read More ›
daniel-hjalmarsson-597537-unsplash
Type
post
Author
Mind Matters
Date
November 10, 2018
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind
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Brains are not billions of little computers

Despite the hype. Also, life forms are not machines and neurons are not neural networks
Mind Matters
November 10, 2018
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind
Life forms exist in a dance with their environment (homeostasis) that requires constant adjustment, an adjustment generated by the inner drive to continue in existence. How does the drive come to be there? The analogy between life forms and machines like computers is not particularly convincing, on close examination. Read More ›