how do our brains work??? – Zirconium Zone

Question: how do our brains work???
- Keywords:
  brain
Asked by mayerar01 to Carol, Ellie, John, Philip, Rebecca on 3 Jul 2012.
- Rebecca Lacey answered on 3 Jul 2012:
  
  Wow that is a massive question!
  
  The basis of how our brains work is electricity. Electricity is when electrons or small negatively charged particles flow towards a positive charge. This is what happens in a battery. Our nerve cells (there are lots of these in the brain) do a similar thing. The cell membrane divides the space into outside and outside the cell. There are little pumps in the membrane that move positively charged particles (like Sodium and Potassium) between the two spaces ie across the membrane. This allows electrons to flow across the membrane generating an electrical current.
- John Welford answered on 4 Jul 2012:
  
  I don’t really know much about the biology of the brain, but I do know a little bit about how scientists and mathematicians have tried to model the its decision making process using “neural networks”.
  
  A neural network is a massive interconnected network of “neurons” that send signals between them, starting at an input and ending with an output. The way each neuron converts its incoming signals to an output signal is what makes up “memory”. So the process of “learning” changes the way neurons pass signals and means that the same input will now produce a different output.
  
  This is a reasonable model of the way the brain works, but it is also a useful method of building an artificial decision making process. “Artificial neural networks” are written on computers and can be “taught” patterns between inputs and outputs. Then they can be used to make decisions, often in robotics and data processing.
  
  There is obviously loads more to how the brain works and Science is still discovering new and exciting things about it, but I’m afraid that’s all I know!
  
  Hope that was interesting!?
- Carol White answered on 4 Jul 2012:
  
  The brain works by using using electrical and chemical signals!
  
  Tiny electrical charges are sent between the neuron centers in the brain and the chemicals keep them functioning properly.
  
  Neurons are specialised cells that have thousands of connections in an intricate network that is always changing.
  
  The national science museum have a quick video on it:
  http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/WhoAmI/FindOutMore/Yourbrain.aspx
- Philip Glasson answered on 6 Jul 2012:
  
  Very nicely Thankyou !! 🙂

Question: how do our brains work???

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