Monday, 25 November 2013
Rhythms, Pain and Consciousness in Invertebrates
This week we’d like to offer you a sort of “seafood cocktail”: links to discussions of three fundamental questions of neurobiology, as investigated using three different kinds of marine invertebrates: lobsters, crabs, and Aplysia (sea slugs).
The first link below is to an article that discusses the many rhythmic activities that can be observed in nervous systems, and in particular in that of the lobster. (more…)
Pleasure and Pain, The Emergence of Consciousness | Comments Closed
Monday, 16 September 2013
Brain Rhythms: The Oscillations That Bind
Most of the neurons in the human brain emit nerve impulses (also known as action potentials) at a specific frequency, which may vary from just a few per second to several hundred per second. The chaotic brain activity revealed by an electroencephalogram (EEG) reflects the summing of all these oscillations in the billions of neurons in the brain.
Not so long ago in the history of neuroscience, the chaotic nature of all these oscillations caused them to be regarded as background noise and given little attention, or even dismissed as an epiphenomenon of no importance. But times have changed. The temporal dimension of brain activity, as expressed by these brain rhythms, is now central to neuroscientific research on complex topics such as sleep and consciousness. (more…)
The Emergence of Consciousness | 1 comment
