Microscopic-macroscopic interface in biological information processing.
Recent experimental work suggests that chemical messengers associated with the neuron membrane serve as a link between macroscopic and microscopic information processes in the brain. Arguments based on the physical limits of computing, on computational parallelism, and on evolution theory suggest that microphysical computing processes enormously enhance the brain's computing power. A number of models are briefly sketched which illustrate how molecular switching processes could be recruited for useful biological functions. The flow of information between microscopic and macroscopic forms is suggestive of processes which occur in a measuring apparatus, and the implications of this analogy are considered.
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003491:Cybernetics; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000502:physiology; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D009435:Synaptic Transmission
D000242:Cyclic AMP; D006152:Cyclic GMP