The human brain perceives sensory data at a rate exceeding one billion bits per secondbut it processes them at a surprisingly low speed – only ten bits per second, reports a new study. TASR informs based on the report of the scientific journal Neuron and the Live Science server.
The peripheral nervous system, a network of neurons that transmits information between the body and the brain, receives information about the environment at a speed exceeding one billion bits per second, that is, slightly faster than lightning fast internet connection with a speed of 125 megabytes (MB), writes Live Science. But people they think and process information at only ten bits (1.25 bytes) per second, states a study by a pair of scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) published on December 17 in the scientific journal Neuron.
“Compared to any speed of information transfer that we encounter in everyday life, it is about ridiculously low number. We get nervous when, for example, Internet connection speed drops below 100 megabits (1.25 MB)because the series could be interrupted while watching. However, if we do not sleep with them, our brain will never get more than from this huge amount of information ten bits of information per second,” states the study.
The authors of the study obtained this speed as a result of a calculation in which they divided the number of bits of information required to perform the task by the time required to complete the task. The task could be, for example putting together a Rubik’s cube or learning the order of the cards in the deck by heart. The result is approx ten bits per second achieved by experts able to complete tasks in progress a few seconds writes Live Science.
The study raises several questions regarding how and why the human brain it displaces redundant information collected by the nervous system. It can transmit information at a speed of ten bits per second one single nerve cell (neuron), Live Science warns.
“A single neuron can function as well as an entire monkey. You only need one neuron to prove code the answer to a yes-no question and also for its execution. So what’s the use of all those billions of neurons if we’re still operating at a speed of ten bits per second?” Jie-yu Cheng, one of the study’s authors, told Live Science.
The study provides a potential explanation for the reason why people cannot think about several things at once, for example, listening to multiple conversations at once. According to the researchers, this may be the reason evolutionary history – the nervous systems of the first animals led the organisms only to food sources or away from dangertherefore they only had to decide on one thing at a given moment. More abstract ideas can work on a similar principle, so apparently we cannot think about several things at the same time, the authors of the study report.
According to them, the brain works in two simultaneously functioning modes – the “outer brain” receives millions of bits of data, while the “inner brain” focuses on only a small part of it. Unraveling the selection process of information transmitted from the outer brain to the inner one will require the study of people in complex activities, for example driving, where it is necessary to frequently change attention to different aspects of the task being performed, adds Cheng.
