An insight on how the brain works

Ev · 02-10-2012 11:32 PM

Here's my hypothesis:

The brain is like a halogram. A halogram is a shape in 3 dimensions, made of dots. If you remove some dots, the shape remains the same, but the clarity of the image changes.

The brain works like a halogram - neurons are either firing or not. If more neurons are firing properly, there's more awareness, because there are more connections in the halogram. Humans are very good at pattern recognition, and more connections means better chance of recognizing patterns.

If less neurons are firing, there's less awareness. While the perception and the phenomenon of having awareness exists in both states, the depth of perception and awareness is changing. With less neurons firing, there's less opportunity to recognize patterns.

it is very difficult to comprehend a more dense or deep experience of awareness while being at a lower level.

For example consider dreaming versus waking self. During dreams, you are aware, but not aware that you are dreaming. The capacity for rational thought is diminished. Even within a dream, the dream's clarity changes. It may be a haphazard bunch of random imagery without a clear plot, or it can be a long, clear and vivid experience, where you may think and even make rational decisions.

The quality of the waking consciousness is also prone to changes. On some days, the brain just works better, and is capable of deeper thought, more emotional awareness, better perception and creativity, while on some days, everything turns into "wallpaper", without any real meaning to it.

I really like this idea, and it seems to explain a lot of brain phenomena. I'm thinking of creating a kind of a test or a self assessment to test this hypothesis.

What do you think?

**Zoth** · 02-11-2012 12:56 AM

I don't have much experience on this kind of subject since I only recently started studying by myself the brain-structure and the phenomenons behind aspects like memory. I feel almost completely lost since it's such great amount of information and I end up raising more questions than answering the one I started with

You did remind me this piece of text La Berge's book:

"(...)Awareness in biological organisms is a function of the brain. The sensory organs detect information (light,sound,heat,texture,odor) in the world and transmit it to the brain. The brain interprets the information and synthesizes it into a conception of what is happening in the outside world (...)"

What this tells me is that there are people that have naturally more awareness than others. For example, Line Salvesen is a famous Norwegian lucid dreamer that has made into the new in that country. She has lucids since a quite young age, and I found this in an interview which immediately caught my eyes:

Also, pardon my ignorance, but isn't a bigger amount of neuronal connections equal to more/faster neurons, thus an increase on the information's processing, which in the particular subject of awareness (this is, defining the world around you), means you would have an easier time becoming lucid?

Also, another thing I don't understand. While dreaming, the blood flow in your brain greatly increases, but iirc, the logical area is not as irrigated as usual. That, combined with the shut down of the seurotonic neurons, makes the dream appear real. But is the type of memory that makes us know that pigs can't fly unavailable (just like short-term memory) as well? How can we be aware of impossibilities within the dream and escape others?