مینجیق

 

Life, brain and cognition have evolved over the course of near 1.5 billion years. In this talk I will present evidence showing how biological molecules evolved and eventually created the brain. Over time, simple brain neural networks evolved into more complex ones forming a hierarchy of interactive networks. Bio electrical activity at different levels (ionic current, membrane potential, spiking activity, local field potentials and EEG) emerge from these structures and convey information as they synchronize across different parts of the brain. Cognition may emerge from interactive spatio-temporal pattern of the bio-electrical activities that are generated by these complex networks. Neurophysiological evidence show correlation between these brain waves and cognition. Complexity and organization of the networks that generate these brain waves define each animals’ cognitive state.

Evolution adds control structures over the existing cortical areas. An important example is the explosive enlargement of frontal cortex in humans that enable us to predict, imitate, form logic, plan, talk, ... and form complex social life. The frontal cortex, that was evolved to process “symbolic” social and facial cues, is now involved in computations of other abstract symbols such as language and math.