Neuroenergetics and the kinetic design of excitatory synapses.
Why is the characteristic timescale of neural information processing in the millisecond range, corresponding to a 'clock speed' of about 1 kHz, whereas the clock speed of modern computers is about 3 GHz? Here we investigate how the brain's energy supply limits the maximum rate at which the brain can compute, and how the molecular components of excitatory synapses have evolved properties that are matched to the information processing they perform.
Attwell
David
D
Department of Physiology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK. d.attwell@ucl.ac.uk
Gibb
Alasdair
A
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*