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by jon blair on October 8th, 2005

jon blair

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How many gigabytes of memory storage does the human brain have?

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  • by Milk Man on October 10th, 2005

    Milk Man

    Im not smart enough to know this off hand but this should help:

    Any answer to this question should be taken with several grains of salt.
    Digital computers and brains don't work the same way. For one thing, every memory location in a computer is created equal. You can move stuff from one location to another without losing any information. In the brain, on the other hand, certain cells specialize in certain jobs. While there is considerable plasticity (the ability to change what some part of the brain does, enabling the brain to recover from injury), there's nothing like the uniformity seen in a computer.

    Secondly, processing and memory are completely separated in a computer; not so in the brain.

    Finally, data in computers is digital, and not really susceptible to "noise". In the brain, there are continuous voltages.

    With those caveats, let's look at numbers. The brain contains 10^11
    neurons -- in other words, 100 giganeurons. Each one has synapses
    connecting it to up to 1000 other neurons. Many researchers believe that
    memories are stored as patterns of synapse strengths. If we suppose that the strength of each synapse can take on any of 256 values, then each synapse corresponds to a byte of memory. This gives a total of (very roughly) 100 terabytes for the brain.

    For more info, see the book "Mind and Brain: Readings from Scientific
    American".


    Note: Please note that 1 byte = 28 bits = 256 bits with each bit corresponding to one value for the strength of the synapse.

    Comments

    • WOW!

      jon blair

      by jon blair on October 10th, 2005

    • >>1 byte = 28 bits = 256 bits with each bit corresponding to one value for the strength of the synapse.<<
      Pls explain this. In traditional digital logic, 1 byte = 8 bits. Is 28 bits a typo?

      Mr_Natural Abstractor of the Quintessence

      by Mr_Natural Abstractor of the Quintessence on March 1st, 2009

    • Pretty cool theory. Problem is; the brain is analog and thus can be sampled into smaller bits indefinately.

      Kylroy

      by Kylroy on December 3rd, 2010

    • What "theory" are you referring to? I'd like to read about it.

      Mr_Natural Abstractor of the Quintessence

      by Mr_Natural Abstractor of the Quintessence on December 5th, 2010

    • Not really theory, just pondering the idea that the memory in the brain can be equated into digital terms.

      Kylroy

      by Kylroy on December 10th, 2010

    • Did you mean "can't be equated"?

      Also, I'm suspicious of "theories" that turn out to be "just pondering" LOL.

      Quote
      "the brain is analog and thus can be sampled into smaller bits indefinately."

      No offense, but by definition a bit is the smallest piece of data. When you say, "Oh, but it's analog, not digital," then you are no longer talking about bits. I don't know what it is you are talking about, but it would help if you'd be clearer.

      Also, you are misusing the term "sampling." It has a specific meaning when "converting" an analog signal (continuously variable within a specified range of amplitudes) to digital (lists of instantaneous voltages expressed in binary).

      Mr_Natural Abstractor of the Quintessence

      by Mr_Natural Abstractor of the Quintessence on December 11th, 2010

    • I made a simple point referring to the first post and it is true. The brain is analog and to convert to digital means that you can increase the amount of data per second by increasing the "sample rate". If you think that I am wrong, then make your point and quit patronizing me.

      Kylroy

      by Kylroy on December 11th, 2010

    • I like noodles.

      TrollBooth

      by TrollBooth on January 25th, 2012

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