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Connectionism and Hierarchical models of the neural circuits.

 

There are many different models that explain how information is stored and processed in the brain. We will focus on two which are relevant to our understanding. The Connectionism model deals with the physical neural connections and the Hierarchical model deals with how abstract ideas and concepts are arranged in the brain. These are different models; however, they complement each other.

 

In the Connectionism model the information (i.e., memories) in the brain is kept in different small units that are connected to each other. On a micro scale, a unit can be a single neuron and the corresponding connection between two neurons is a synapse. On a macro scale, a unit can be a group of neurons or an area in the brain and the corresponding connection is made of many synapses and neurons that connect two different areas in the brain. These connections build a neural circuit (also called neural network) which is defined as populations of neurons interconnected by synapses to create a network of information and carry out a specific function when activated. A neural circuit integrates a vast amount of information and performs complicated cognitive and regulatory functions. To do so, the brain stores the permanent knowledge or information in the long-term memory so it can be used again and again. The efficiency of storage of information depends on the strength and the stability of the synapses, since strong long-term memory needs strong synaptic connections between the neurons [160].

When we learn a new concept, we modify the existing neural connections in our brain. As we face re-occurrence of what we learn, or we re-use existing knowledge, specific neural connections get stronger and so we tend to remember better the new concept or knowledge we have learnt [138]. 

The Hierarchical arrangement model of a brain deals with the processing of information coming from the sensory organs (eyes, ears, etc). This information passes through different areas in the brain that are not necessarily neighboring with each other but are connected with neural and synaptic connections. Each area contains many small communities of neural population that form together a Node. Nodes are connected to each other with other neurons and synapses to form a bigger network of information and functions. The information moves in the brain from a low synaptic level to a higher synaptic level. A low synaptic level is characterized by a single connection between nodes and a higher synaptic level is characterized by multiple connections between the nodes. As the information moves to a higher synaptic level, it is transformed from raw sensory input into increasingly more abstract and complex verbal concepts. For example, seeing an object, and recognizing its shape is processed by a lower synaptic level. Concluding in a verbal form that it is a table is processed in a higher synaptic level. The process of converting information to a verbal concept in the brain is a cognitive process. As the amount of information increases and accumulates, more nodes are involved, and so, complex verbal concepts can be built only in a higher synaptic levels [149]. 

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The hierarchy of the neural and information infrastructure in the brain can be compared to planning and building of a city.  We start with a single room or a single element, which serves one person. Then we progress to a house, which contain several rooms that serves several people or a family. There is the need to design water and electricity infrastructure of the house. From a single house we build a neighborhood. The neighborhood contain many houses and the water and electricity system of each house has to be connected to a main system. Road infrastructure, which is a new element, has been added to connect between the houses. A city would demand a more sophisticated design containing many elements and connections between them. In addition to water, electricity and road many other aspects such as waste pipe lines, discharging of rubbish, monitoring traffic, pollution, managing space and density of population and other environmental issues will come into consideration, issues or elements that were not considered in building a room, house or even neighborhood. A room, a house, a neighborhood and a city correspond to an order of increasing levels of synaptic activity in a brain, as each level is more abstract and complex than the one before it.

Solving a simple math problem of addition or building one room requires a small portion of the brain to operate. A few nodes collaborate or associate with each other, which means that there are few neural connections or synapses between them. The cognitive process in solving addition math problem or building a single room is done in a lower synaptic level. However, solving the ratio math problem or building a neighborhood or a city involves a cognitive process that involves more nodes in different areas of the brain and more neural connections or synapses between the nodes. All cognitive processes follow an order of stages of actions where each stage depends on the completion of the previous one. If in any node on the path of thinking there is a defect in a neural connection or a synapse, the process of analyzing a problem will not be complete correctly and the best solution to a problem will not be achieved.

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Some of the important areas in the brain that are involved in the higher synaptic levels of thinking (higher stages of analyzing using the working memory) are in the cortex layer of different parts of the brain. Among them are prefrontal cortex in the front of the head, which interacts with the hippocampal area in forming consolidation of information and working memory [60], and the occipital cortices at the back of the head. These two areas are involved in verbal as well as visual working memory [61]. Both areas border on the surface of the brain and are the areas where the hot towel during the hot water massage to a baby is frequently pressed to. The heat of the towel can destroy neural connections, synapses, and nodes. Therefore, it destroys the passage of the electrical and chemical impulses (action potential) that form the information and the knowledge in the brain. A baby who has undergone the hot water massage treatment to his or her head will likely have lasting damage and not be able to use higher synaptic levels in analyzing problems that he or she faces in a real life, and therefore, the best solution will not be achieved.

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