Scientists Quantified The Speed of Human Thought, And It's a Big Surprise

The speed of the human brain's ability to process information has been investigated in a new study, and according to scientists, we're not as mentally quick as we might like to think.In fact, research suggests our brains process information at a speed of just 10 bits per second. But how is this possible, in comparison to the trillions of operations computers can perform every second?

Research suggests this is the result of how we internally process thoughts in single file, making for a slow, congested queue.

This stands in stark contrast to the way the peripheral nervous system operates, amassing sensory data at gigabits a second in parallel, magnitudes higher than our paltry 10-bit cognitive computer.

To neurobiologists Jieyu Zheng and Markus Meister from the California Institute of Technology, this mismatch in sensory input and processing speed poses something of a mystery.

"Every moment, we are extracting just 10 bits from the trillion that our senses are taking in and using those 10 to perceive the world around us and make decisions," says Meister.“This raises a paradox: What is the brain doing to filter all of this information?"

In their recently published paper, Zheng and Meister raise a clear defense of the suggestion that in spite of the richness of the scenery in our mind's eye, the existence of photographic memory, and the potential of unconscious processing, our brains really do operate at a mind-numbingly slow pace that rarely peaks above tens of bits a second.

According to the researchers, solving a Rubik's cube blindfolded requires processing of just under 12 bits a second. Playing the strategy computer game StarCraft at a professional level? Around 10 bits a second. Reading this article? That might stretch you to 50 bits a second, at least temporarily.Assuming it's true, the pair lay out the state of research on the disparity between our "outer brain's" processing of external stimuli and the "inner brain's" calculations, demonstrating just how little we know about our own thinking.

"The current understanding is not commensurate with the enormous processing resources available, and we have seen no viable proposal for what would create a neural bottleneck that forces single-strand operation," the authors write.

Knowing how our brains evolved could give us insights into both improving artificial intelligence and shaping it to suit our especially particular neural architecture. At the very least, it could reveal the deeper benefits of slowing down and approaching the world one simple question at a time.This perspective was published in Neuron.

科学家量化东说念主类想维速率，后果令东说念主大为惊诧在一项新的商量中，东说念主类大脑处罚信息的速率得回了探究。科学家暗示，咱们的想维速率可能并莫得咱们自以为的那么快。实质上，商量标明咱们的大脑每秒仅能处罚10比特的信息。但与运筹帷幄机每秒能进行数万亿次运算比拟，这如何可能呢？商量标明，这是由于咱们在大脑里面以单列容貌处罚想维，从而导致队伍迟缓且拥挤。这与周围神经系统的运作容貌形成了涌现对比，周围神经系统每秒能并行汇集千兆比特的感官数据，比咱们哀怜的每秒10比特的融会才智向上许大皆量级。对于加州理工学院的神经生物学家郑洁宇（Jieyu Zheng）和马库斯·迈斯特（Markus Meister）来说，这种感官输入与处罚速率的不匹配是一个谜。迈斯特说：“每一刻，咱们从感官给与的万亿比特信息中仅提真金不怕火10比特，并用这10比特来感知周围的寰宇并作念出有磋商。”“这就产生了一个悖论：大脑是如何过滤通盘这些信息的呢？”在他们最近发表的论文中，郑洁宇和迈斯特明确撑捏这么一种不雅点：尽管咱们脑海中的景况丰富多彩，存在影相式牵记，以及存在无坚忍处罚的潜能，但咱们的大脑如实以一种慢得令东说念主麻痹的速率开头，其速率少许能越过每秒几十比特。据商量东说念主员称，蒙眼规复魔方每秒需要处罚不到12比特的信息。以专科水平玩战术电脑游戏《星际争霸》呢？粗略每秒10比特。阅读这篇著述？这可能会使你达到每秒50比特，至少是暂时的。假定这一情况属实，两东说念主阐扬了对于咱们“外脑”对外部刺激的处罚与“内脑”运筹帷幄之间各异的商量近况，这标明咱们对本人想维的了解是何等少。作家写说念：“当今的相识与可用的浩大处罚资源不相配，何况咱们还莫得看到对于是什么形成了迫使单链操作的神经瓶颈的可行冷漠。”了解大脑的进化容貌不错让咱们深切了解如何修订东说念主工智能，并使其顺应咱们私有的神经结构。至少，这不错揭示延缓脚步、一次处罚一个简单问题的更深脉络的益处。这一不雅点发表于《神经元》杂志。

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