Brain Memory Capacity 10x Greater Than Previously Estimated

Dr. Sejnowski and a team at the Salk Institute has unraveled another challenging question about the brain. The amount of energy expended vs the size of the brain and diversity of connections previously seemed in-congruent. In this new study, the team found 26 different sizes of synapse, which can change in size over the course of a few minutes. The larger the synapse, the more ability it has to induce the neighboring neurons. This wide variety of synapse sizes adds another significant variable to the complexity of the brain and increases its storage capacity beyond earlier estimates.

At MindFusionX, we find this particularly interesting. We recognize that the brain learns in a variety of ways, from the momentary readiness potential in the terminal side of the synapse, one of the most rapidly changing variables, to the level of myelenation on the axons, which changes very slowly, but affects neural patterns due to timing coherence effects.

Salk Institute. “Memory capacity of brain is 10 times more than previously thought.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 January 2016.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160120201224.htm