Mij
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Summary: Researchers provided robust evidence supporting the controversial “critical brain hypothesis” through a project called DishBrain.
This experiment, involving 800,000 human neural cells playing Pong, reveals how neurons shift into a “neural critical” state when informed about the surrounding environment, enabling cascades of brain activity. This state lies between the extremes of epileptic excitation and a comatose stall.
The findings hint at profound insights into brain function and potential treatments for neurological disorders.
Key Facts:
This experiment, involving 800,000 human neural cells playing Pong, reveals how neurons shift into a “neural critical” state when informed about the surrounding environment, enabling cascades of brain activity. This state lies between the extremes of epileptic excitation and a comatose stall.
The findings hint at profound insights into brain function and potential treatments for neurological disorders.
Key Facts:
- DishBrain, a collection of 800,000 human neural cells, was utilized to support the critical brain hypothesis by demonstrating how neurons shift into a “neural critical” state.
- This “neural critical” state enables complex behaviors, existing between the extremes of epileptic activity and signal stalling.
- While criticality helps understand neural responses, it alone doesn’t drive learning; a feedback loop with additional action consequence information is essential.