Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by obstbraende 2917 days ago
That's too naive. There's next to nothing known about how activity in individual neurons and their synapses relates to mental contents, in particular "higher level" concepts and thought patterns that you're concerned with in adult learning. In other words, the network dynamics are complex and unknown, and so the suppression / deactivation of certain synapses may just as well be a normal and necessary part of learning as it may be a part of forgetting, or neither. There is currently no contender for a "neuroscience standard model" that would bridge between this kind of neural dynamics and cognitive functions. I hope to live to see one.
1 comments

Amen to that, we are starting to get some of the groundwork but are far far away from a “standard model”, neuroscientists,psychiatrists and AI developers oversell their understanding in order to keep their jobs and funding.
I know of no psychologist or neuroscientist who even try for a 'standard model' level of understanding of brain function.
It’s really just the AI folks.