Brain’s Cache Memory Found

16 Apr, 2004 at 11:22am ET Article published in Tech

The number of things you can hold in your mind at once has been traced to one penny-sized part of the brain.

The finding surprises researchers who assumed this aspect of our intelligence would be distributed over many parts of the brain. Instead, the area appears to form a bottleneck that might limit our cognitive abilities, researchers say.

Source: Nature

Comments

16 Apr 2004 ~ 11:30am csimon good find kingfish ...very interesting!
16 Apr 2004 ~ 11:39am mmonnin I guess thats why we can only remember 4 numbers at a time. Notice how phone numbers are in groups of 3 and 4. Thats the usual max on numbers that we can remember at a time.

I like this line:
"Single spot in brain determines size of visual scratch pad. "
16 Apr 2004 ~ 11:51am Straight_Man Lots of oiur brain is devoted to physical control pattern storage and speech and symbol storage. One way to remember complex things, including numbers, is to symbolize them-- change how you remember to how the brain stores, memory lasts longer.

Lots of the math geniuses think symbolically and mnemonically in combination to figure out complex math absent a computer's use.

John D.
16 Apr 2004 ~ 12:29pm KingFish Thanks csimon. I thought it was quite interesting myself. Tech has such a convergence with other things and, in my opinion, the ultimate convergence is with the human mind. I think this topic and others related will be a hot one and will surely be the ones to watch in the future. And to think I found this article buried deep inside one of the news sites I peruse. This is front page stuff in my opinion. I'll pass more along as I find them.

KingFish
16 Apr 2004 ~ 12:30pm croc_ Is this cache upgradeable? Or do I have to replace the brain to upgrade?
16 Apr 2004 ~ 1:04pm Geeky1 Maybe a couple COASTs would work...
16 Apr 2004 ~ 1:05pm ginipig Depends on your warranty
16 Apr 2004 ~ 1:54pm Templar Just file an RMA claim
16 Apr 2004 ~ 3:26pm hitokiri When are the new 64bit brains coming out? That'll fix the memory bottlenecks.
16 Apr 2004 ~ 8:14pm MJO Geeky, how do I cool an OC'ed brain?
The best thing would be to get rid of all that hair, right?
I also need to upgrade my memory and cache.
/me cannot remember when his favourite shows are on television ;)
16 Apr 2004 ~ 8:41pm Leonardo

One way to remember complex things, including numbers, is to symbolize them-- change how you remember to how the brain stores, memory lasts longer.

That's exactly why I prefer road signs and automobile dashboard information that is presented with symbols - get the whole meaning in a quick glance.
16 Apr 2004 ~ 8:53pm Geeky1 Shave the hair, immerse cranium in chilled water.
16 Apr 2004 ~ 11:37pm madmat Back in the 80's they came out with a motorcycle helmet with a peltier in it that cooled your noggin, locate one of those and attach a fan to the sink on the pelt to simulate movement of the bike and it's all good. You could wear it on dates and stuff.
17 Apr 2004 ~ 5:20am EyesOnly or math tests.