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The neuron doctrine is an insult to neurons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 1999

Stuart Hameroff
Stuart Hameroff
Affiliation:
Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85724 hameroff@u.arizona.edu www.u.arizona.edu/~hameroff
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Abstract

As presently implemented, the neuron doctrine (ND) portrays the brain's neurons and chemical synapses as fundamental components in a computer-like switching circuit, supporting a view of brain = mind = computer. However, close examination reveals individual neurons to be far more complex than simple switches, with enormous capacity for intracellular information processing (e.g., in the internal cytoskeleton). Other poorly appreciated factors (gap junctions, apparent randomness, dendritic-dendritic processing, possible quantum computation, the living state) also suggest that the ND grossly oversimplifies neuronal functions. In the quest to understand consciousness, the presently implemented ND may throw out the baby with the bath water.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 22 , Issue 5 , October 1999 , pp. 838 - 839
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

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