I'd like to try and formulate precisely the idea that is only a vague notion in swirling somewhere between my brain and the keyboard at this moment...
First where it came from:
1. In neural theory there is the idea that groups of neurons can communicate best if their firing rate is synchronized to the same frequency. 40 hz (40 spikes per second of the famous neuronal discharge that runs wavelike accross the membrane (axon) of the neuronal cell, from the core to the outer 'dendrites') seems to be a popular 'channel' in the human cortex. When the cells are synchronized, their 'windows for communication are open'. (source > FCDC)
2. According to our idea (Pim, Iris, Roel, Jelle) the brain and the physical environment interact and from this interaction dynamic cognitive structure is formed.
My idea is that the process in 2. is not unlike the process in 1. viz. that succesful cognitive structure can only be formed if the activity in the brain and the coupled activity in the environment (i.e. the physical changes in the environment) are 'synchronized'. Only then can we have a window of opportunity in which a stability (attractor) can be formed. You might also say that when environment and brain have the same rythm, the channel between them is open for communication.
3 comments:
Hmmm, that explains why movies always leave such a big impression. Their frame rate is 24 Hz (cinema), 25 Hz (PAL) or 30 Hz (NTSC). Synchronized very well... NOT.
Everything above 10 Hz is going to fast for our sensors.
I'm wondering what kind of rhythm you're thinking about.
A little correction to my comment above. Visual stimulation at 15 to 25 Hz can trigger an epileptic seizures. That looks like some kind of synchronization, but quite undesired.
Of course,
But I was thinking of really slow cycles. I guess that somewhere in the brain there are recurring patterns of activity that have slow wave components on the order of seconds, minutes, even hours or days. And in real life, you have these same kind of recurrence of events. Everyday you go to work, take the same bus, etc.., there is a lot of repetition in our behavior. There is rythm in the way I interact with my computer while typing. Rythm in te saccades I make while reading. That sort of rythm... does that make any sense?
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