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by JD1779 on June 1st, 2005

JD1779

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What is the speed of thought?

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  • by ggonnigan on June 2nd, 2005

    ggonnigan

    Around 300 milliseconds. That's how long it took a volunteer to begin to understand a pictured object. Add to that another 250 to 450 milliseconds to fully comprehend what it was. Total speed of thought: between 550 and 750 milliseconds.


    Such are the results coming out of work conducted by John Hopkins scientists seeking to measure rates of comprehension. "This information has been difficult to acquire," says neurologist and team leader John Hart, "even with different combinations of behavioural tests, electrical recordings and imaging studies such as PET scans."
    Yet by taking advantage of a unique opportunity afforded by a patient scheduled for tests using electrodes surgically placed on his brain, the researchers have moved one step closer to "building theories of higher mental activity." Until now, the speed of cognitive operations (including language processing) has been the missing ingredient.


    Reporting their findings in the May 25 Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences, the researchers describe how the patient was asked to name and categorize a variety of pictures and words. By way of a grid of 174 electrodes, his brain activity was then monitored. The speed of comprehension was far quicker for objects that were already familiar to him.

    The data, obtained within a single stage at a single site in the brain, are further evidence that information accumulates gradually in the brain, rather than in a strictly all-or-none fashion.

    Reference Link:

    http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/19980428032910data_trunc_sys.shtml

    Comments

    • excellent!

      scymitar72

      by scymitar72 on June 2nd, 2005

    • I think the speed of thought may be even more tha the said measurements.

      Jaswal

      by Jaswal on June 5th, 2005

    • Very informative answer. Good job!

      kanjalid

      by kanjalid on June 5th, 2005

    • the question was Speed of thought, V=dt. You need a distance traveled and a time frame for a speed

      reynard

      by reynard on June 7th, 2005

    • First of all, the question was asking the speed of thought, not the time it takes for your brain to function. Even if it was that, you would still be wrong. 500 milliseconds is .5 of a second. If it really takes half a second to say a word, then that means if a ball is coming to you, and when you realize that, the ball is half way there, then it would take 1 second to catch it. First, to realize where it's going, then to lift up your arms in a position to catch it, you would probably be too late. If you read a book, and it's about as big as a fablehaven book (about 4 inches thick), then it would take about 14,400 hours to read it, asuming you read for 2 hours every day.

      jack13579

      by jack13579 on May 31st, 2010

    • How fast is the initial speed of comprehension? Does this vary between individuals? More interestingly does this vary between those with different brain disorders, autism for example. Can the brain comprehend the external influence be it an image or object at the same speed yet however the thought process after this vary with those suffering brain disorders?

      capero82

      by capero82 on July 10th, 2010

    • Um. . .neither 300, 250, 450, 550 or 750 milliseconds is a "speed". It's a simple measure of time. A speed would involve the distance traveled in that given time. SO: you haven't answered the question.

      storagge

      by storagge on August 30th, 2010

    • the question is how fast is the speed of thought not how fast the mind processess said thoughts. the speed is actually impossible to get a logical measurement everyone thinks differently
      but if your talking about how fast your mind sends electrical signals through out the body it varies but a training fighters synaptis fire at about 250mph

      no name

      by no name on March 9th, 2012

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