Ok… I’m going to come off sounding like an idiot here because I don’t know the details of what I’m talking about.
But here goes.
In most of the equipment I work with, the sensors (RTD’s - heat sensors that tell the controller the temperature of something, photocells – proximity sensors that sense when the product, ie., a box, is passing a certain point on a conveyor, limit switches – simple mechanical open/close switches that would tell the controller a safety door was open or a button was being pushed) each typically communicate with the controller through it’s own pair of wires that go from the sensor to an input/output board in the controller. You can end up with a lot of wires.
Now there are systems that use control networks and “smart sensors” that not only send the information for which it exists (“115 ohms meaning 350 degrees F”, “I sense a box!”, or “button pushed”) but also a packet of info identifying the sensor. This way, you can run all this information through a single cable instead of hundreds of wire pairs.
My question is… in which way does the human body work? The first (dumb open/close switches) or the second (smart sensors)?
I suspect the second because, in terms of touch, I doubt each and every square millimeter of flesh (or whatever the resolution is on your sense of touch) sends a signal all the way to the brain on it’s very own string of nerve cells. Possibly it has it’s own path to the spinal column then a “smart” signal goes to the brain but I doubt this. I bet it’s smart from the get go. Please once again note that I have no idea what I’m talking about here!
Or take the eye... please.
If you break up everything you can see into pixels the size of whatever resolution your eye can detect, is each rod and cone firing its signal for each pixel along its own string of nerve cells to the brain? That’s a helluva lot of nerve cells.
D’oh! I just looked up something about nerve cells. Apparently some nerve cells in humans can have “axons” (kind of like a loooong hair) that stretch all the way from the spinal cord to the toes. That would imply that the combination method I mentioned above is in effect but now I’m wondering if I’m dead wrong and each pixel of touch (and heat) is going through it’s own unique path all the way to the brain.
The body is freakin’ amazing, ain’t it?
3 comments:
I may have to bring up your question to ponder when I feel I'm in an appropriate group to have such a debate. Very interesting.
LOVE the Garbage Pail Kid!!!!
I'm not positive by a long stretch, but my best guess, based on some half-remembered reading, is that there's essentially a separate wire for every nerve ending.
It would be fascinating if there weren't, though; you could fool your brain into thinking it was getting a signal from a different part of your body by faking the signature.
Of course, sometimes your brain is fooled, but I think that's just the wires getting crossed.
Yeah, the more I think about it -- separate wires.
Ahhh, yes... I was waiting for our resident intelligent Systems Engineer to chime in.
So from each and every "pixel" of feeling on the outer surface of your body there is a separate path all the way to the brain? And more than one path for each pixel since there is a different "bit" of information for temperature and touch?
And at least one separate path for each pixel in my view? Likely a lot more unless each color uses the same path.
Still seems iffy to me.
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