John's Emails	Advice on real neurons
Web neurons (revisited)		Re: Advice on real neurons
To: Jeffrey N. Browndyke <cogito@premier.net> Hi Jeff, You may remember "Web neurons". In your last Email you did kindly offer some advice regarding real neurons. One of the problems I have been thinking about for a number of years is how the learning process works. I'm sure a lot of people have. I think the basic principles are correct with the Web neuron idea, which could in fact be applied at any level of computing, even hardware, I believe. There are the the four ingredients, inputs, outputs, processing, and linking, that appear fundamentally necessary and correct. It is strange that the only one of these missing from the start of computing was the linking; because conventional subroutines have i/o and processing. But now on the Net we have all the linking we can imagine - but the other three have disappeared!!! (or been separated) Anyway, even those ingredients don't automatically explain learning. I am interested in your point about the foetus and all the "loser" and "winner" cells. What exactly is going on? Why does one die and not another? Indeed why do any die at all. What sort of structures are forming and how. What are the common ways of linking within small groups of neurons. Is there any looping going on (like a while next loop say in programming). Also, how do cells remember - is it by permanently changing the way inputs convert to outputs, as in the "weighting functions" of neural-nets, or by making/breaking links, or both. Can old people still make new links? I have a lot of questions don't I, but it's all quite important really. I have already formed a few preliminary ideas, one of which is that Web neurons that get used a lot, should perhaps sprout more outputs/attract more inputs, and conversely lose some. Also, if there were a lot of inputs/outputs? then the Web neuron could split into two and simplify things. But I've heard that some brain cells can have a thousand links. It's hard to know what to do. I would greatly appreciate any advice you may have. It could be built into the system and its better to get it right from the start. Thanks, Cheers, John -------------------------------------------- John Middlemas Phone/FAX +44 1604 846227 Email john@brain.eu.org Web http://brain.eu.org --------------------------------------------