For the first time, scientists have discovered how fast the human brain is capable of processing any amount of information and the results may not be as fascinating as we might have previously thought. According to researchers, our senses, including the eyes, ears, skin and nose, process information at a speed of only 10 bits per second, despite receiving billions of bits of information.
Specifically, the bit is the basic unit of information in computing with a typical Wi-Fi connection processing approximately 50 million bits per second. Scientists found that during activities such as reading, writing, playing video games, and solving the Rubik’s Cube, humans can only think at a speed of 10 bits per second, which they called “extremely slow.”
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology set out to find the reason for this paradox and published their findings in the journal neuron Last week.
“That’s an extremely small number. Every moment, we’re picking out just 10 bits out of the trillions that our senses are taking in and using those 10 bits to understand the world around us and make decisions This creates a paradox: What is the brain doing to filter all this information?” said Marcus Meister, a neurobiologist involved in the study.
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What is the reason?
Although there is no clear answer, researchers believe that our slower brain processing may be due to need, or rather, the lack of it.
“Our ancestors chose an ecological niche where the world was slow enough to make survival possible,” the study says. “In reality, 10 bits per second is needed only in the worst case, and most of the time our environment changes at a much more leisurely pace.”
Based on the research, scientists said that more research is needed on how our brain focuses on only a series of thoughts at a time, rather than taking advantage of the sea of information we receive every passing second. Instead of lifting.
The researchers said, “The current understanding is not commensurate with the vast processing resources available, and we have seen no viable proposal that would create a neural barrier that forces single-strand operation.”
Further exploration is needed because there are more than 85 billion neurons, one third of which are dedicated to higher-level thinking and are located in the cortex.
