Class 04/11: The Evolution of the Brain
Links:
Important facts:
- A sensory neuron can be as 3 ft long
- The human brain containts 1011 neurons
- Each neuron in the human brain connects to ~ 1000 other neurons
- Thus our brains "information capacity" is ~ 1014
- A neuron operates as an "analog device"
- Total number of configurations of neurons in the brain: 21014
- With a complete photographic memory, over a lifetime, you would only use up 1/20 of your brain's capacity
- An average brain mass is roughly 1375 grams (~ 3 pounds)
- An average brain's volume is around 1.3 liters
- Lord Byron's brain weighed ~ 2200 grams.
- A blue whale has a brain ~ x5 more massive than ours.
