Memory capacity of brain is 10 times more than previously thought
Data from the Salk Institute shows brain’s memory capacity is in the petabyte range, as much as entire Web
Data from the Salk Institute shows brain’s memory capacity is in the petabyte range, as much as entire Web
Human brains can hold 10 times more information than thought, equivalent to the entire internet (MSN)
Memory capacity of brain is 10 times more than previously thought.. Data from the Salk Institute shows brain’s memory capacity is in the petabyte range, as much as entire Web (Site original)
“We discovered the key to unlocking the design principle for how hippocampal neurons function with low energy but high computation power. Our new measurements of the brain’s memory capacity increase conservative estimates by a factor of 10 to at least a petabyte
But armed with the knowledge that synapses of all sizes could vary in increments as little as eight percent between sizes within a factor of 60, the team determined there could be about 26 categories of sizes of synapses, rather than just a few.
“Our data suggests there are 10 times more discrete sizes of synapses than previously thought,” says Bartol. In computer terms, 26 sizes of synapses correspond to about 4.7 “bits” of information. Previously, it was thought that the brain was capable of just one to two bits for short and long memory storage in the hippocampus.
“This is roughly an order of magnitude of precision more than anyone has ever imagined,” says Sejnowski.
The findings also offer a valuable explanation for the brain’s surprising efficiency. The waking adult brain generates only about 20 watts of continuous power—as much as a very dim light bulb. The Salk discovery could help computer scientists build ultraprecise, but energy-efficient, computers, particularly ones that employ “deep learning” and artificial neural nets—techniques capable of sophisticated learning and analysis, such as speech, object recognition and translation.
