The Neuron as a Model for New Media Communication
Monday, December 17, 2007
Today on Mind Hacks I stumbled across this fantastic little flash interactive that teaches you about the different parts of a neuron, and how neurons function.
I've harbored an intense fascination with the basic premises of neuroscience for a few years now; in particular I've been interested in how the functions of our neurological system provide an apt metaphor for how we share information in through the web.
So, here's an oversimplified explanation of how neurons are like people connected to the internet.
Dendrites are the sensing, or listening part of the neuron. Any given neuron might have as many as 2,000 dendrites.
For internet users, our dendrites are our collected sources. Our list of RSS feeds of blogs that we've subscribed to. Our bookmarks. Our Facebook friends. These are all the voices we're listening to.
The Axon carries the signal from dendrites out to any other neurons that the neuron is connected to.
This represents our outgoing feed. After we've filtered all of the information that is coming in, a small portion of it is deemed worthy enough to pass on. This gets passed into our information stream and sent to the people who are listening to us.
The Myelin Sheath protects the axon, and also increases the speed and strength of the signals.
These are the tools and services we use to amplify and/or direct the information being passed through our feed. We may have a blog. We might use Twitter. We may share links through Facebook. Digg. del.icio.us. StumbleUpon.
The Synaptic End Bulbs are where electrical signals passed down the axon release neurotransmitters that are received by other neurons.
These are the posts themselves that show up on our blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, etc.
The human body's central nervous system consists of billions of neurons connected in an infinitely complex network.
This sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it? Think about all the sources you have coming in, and all the sources that are listening on the other end. Some of us might be powerful super neurons - like the NYTimes, for instance. Some of us might be minor neurons with less than a hundred regular listeners. And some of us might be relatively insignificant neurons with hardly any listeners. But, we're all connected to each other; it's the sum of those connections that makes the internet so revolutionary. And each day the number of listeners grows, and more and more neurons become connected to other neurons.
Also, like a typical electric circuit, the neural circuit only lights up if enough of the individual neurons are passing on the signal. In our world, an idea will only light up the network if enough individual users decide to pass it on.
We are in the midst of building a hugely complex and powerful system for sharing information; and it is continuously becoming exponentially more powerful.
I've harbored an intense fascination with the basic premises of neuroscience for a few years now; in particular I've been interested in how the functions of our neurological system provide an apt metaphor for how we share information in through the web.
So, here's an oversimplified explanation of how neurons are like people connected to the internet.
Dendrites are the sensing, or listening part of the neuron. Any given neuron might have as many as 2,000 dendrites.
For internet users, our dendrites are our collected sources. Our list of RSS feeds of blogs that we've subscribed to. Our bookmarks. Our Facebook friends. These are all the voices we're listening to.
The Axon carries the signal from dendrites out to any other neurons that the neuron is connected to.
This represents our outgoing feed. After we've filtered all of the information that is coming in, a small portion of it is deemed worthy enough to pass on. This gets passed into our information stream and sent to the people who are listening to us.
The Myelin Sheath protects the axon, and also increases the speed and strength of the signals.
These are the tools and services we use to amplify and/or direct the information being passed through our feed. We may have a blog. We might use Twitter. We may share links through Facebook. Digg. del.icio.us. StumbleUpon.
The Synaptic End Bulbs are where electrical signals passed down the axon release neurotransmitters that are received by other neurons.
These are the posts themselves that show up on our blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, etc.
The human body's central nervous system consists of billions of neurons connected in an infinitely complex network.
This sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it? Think about all the sources you have coming in, and all the sources that are listening on the other end. Some of us might be powerful super neurons - like the NYTimes, for instance. Some of us might be minor neurons with less than a hundred regular listeners. And some of us might be relatively insignificant neurons with hardly any listeners. But, we're all connected to each other; it's the sum of those connections that makes the internet so revolutionary. And each day the number of listeners grows, and more and more neurons become connected to other neurons.
Also, like a typical electric circuit, the neural circuit only lights up if enough of the individual neurons are passing on the signal. In our world, an idea will only light up the network if enough individual users decide to pass it on.
We are in the midst of building a hugely complex and powerful system for sharing information; and it is continuously becoming exponentially more powerful.
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