Re: >H Tech for Brain Extension Demonstrated

[Phil <flick@populus.net>]

Transhuman Mailing List

> >Computer uses cat's brain to see
> >
> >Scientists have literally seen the world through cat's eyes
> >
> >
> >The thalamus is connected directly to the cat's eyes via the optic nerve.
> >Each of its cells is programmed to respond to certain features in the cat's
> >field of view. Some cells "fire" when they record an edge in the cat's
> >vision, others when they see lines at certain angles, etc. This way the cat's
> >brain acquires the information it needs to reconstruct an image.

I thought that a) the optic tectum (or the mammalian equivalent, I am
thinking of frogs) was more of a retinal map than a feature-detector,
and b) people have known for a long time what the mapping is from the visual
field all the way to area V1 in posterior cortex.  The advance is in the
technology used to connect the brain to the computer, not in understanding
about the brain.

Phil Goetz
flick@populus.net
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