Livewired
Last updated: 1/9/2025
This book deals with how the brain rewires itself to adapt to the environment. It introduces a lot of concepts such as information maximization (infotrophism) and the ideas of [[sensory-addition]] and [[sensory-substitution|substitution]].
the brain can reconfigure itself however it wants to
The brain is constantly changing. Every second, new connections are made, new genes are being expressed, [[Neurons|neurons]] are being created and are dying. Because of this, the brain is very [[Plasticity|plastic]] and is able to change itself to fit whatever it wants. A huge insight from this book is that the brain is able to make massive changes and it has been evolved not with the current body plan in mind, but the brain is evolved to learn how to optimize information. An example of this is that there are some people that have half a brain, either because they were born with only one half or it was cut out during surgery. People are able to survive with large chunks of their brain being taken out (if this happens when they are young) because the brain re-configures itself to deal with the space that it has.
the brain only cares about information not how it gets there
This idea stems from the brain being very good at understanding all forms of information and extracting patterns. It also leads to a very cool future where we can make the brain take new streams of information to improve our quality of life.
This is true for sensory information but also for motor information, if the brain is able to get feedback that this pattern of neural pulses hear results in this happening, then the brain can learn how to control anything (examples are people controlling computers or robotic arms with their brains). This process is sped up when they are give more direct sensory feedback.
the brain only changes to reach its goal
If the brain does not want to change, then it won't. If you do not want to do something, or do not think that something is important than you will not learn. There are certain molecules that get released that make parts of the brain more plastic and the more that the brain cares about the change, the more it will change. This happens during [[operant-conditioning|operant conditioning]], where a reward/punishment will make the brain more plastic and better to learn. But this change can happen internally.
brain plasticity is not constant
In general, brain plasticity declines as we age, but it doesn't decline at the same rate everywhere. Systems where information is very predictable and constant, as well as systems that are closer to the raw sensory input, "solidify" quicker, while more abstract systems, and systems that need to change more frequently, are more plastic.
[[memory]]
Human [[memory]] is a lot different compared to computer [[memory]]. Humans do not store the raw information, but how that information connects to other information. This means that the more you know about a related topic, the easier it will be to remember that related topic. This is also why analogies are effective at learning because they allow the learner to make connections and thus remember and understand things better. All memories are based on and related to all other memories.