Unconscious Cerebellum[i]
Massimini said that in HBP[ii]
they have a lot of information, data and good people on the matters of consciousness,
neurons, skull, etc., that need to be put together. He compares our time with
the time before Darwin joined the things in the theory of evolution. Thus, even
more effort in mining what they have than in collecting new data.
One very interesting thing
he said is about the cerebellum[a] and its disassociation with consciousness.
With 80 billion neurons, cerebellum does his job unconsciously. Despite of the
fact that is does wonderful tasks related to our motor coordination, what is
missing in its architecture that can explain it is like a zombie? On the other
hand, thalamocortical[b] system is central to consciousness. So, they should be
able to compare both of them in their experiments and try to find the answer.
This
mystery is a very short problem that HBP has in hands and can that can be investigate
deeper in its researches involving neurobiology, neuromorphic, robotics and
philosophy. Mixing all these things can put us in the Darwin road shortly.
[a]cerebellum[iii]:
it performs everyday voluntary tasks such as walking and writing. It is also
essential to being able to stay balanced and upright.
[b]thalamocortical[iv]: the
thalamocortical system constitutes the vast majority of the mammalian brain and
has been the subject of extensive neurobiological and computational study. The
thalamus and the neocortex are reciprocally connected via pathways of varying
levels of topography.
Thalamus[v]: responsible
for relaying information from the sensory receptors to proper areas of the
brain where it can be processed.
Cortex[vi]: Responsible
for thinking and processing information from the five senses.
[ii]
The Human Brain Project is a H2020 FET Flagship Project which strives to
accelerate the fields of neuroscience, computing and brain-related medicine.
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