Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site psivax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!whuxl!houxm!mtuxo!mtunh!mtung!mtunf!ariel!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!hplabs!sdcrdcf!psivax!friesen From: friesen@psivax.UUCP (Stanley Friesen) Newsgroups: net.sci Subject: Re: darwinism Message-ID: <526@psivax.UUCP> Date: Mon, 1-Jul-85 14:04:15 EDT Article-I.D.: psivax.526 Posted: Mon Jul 1 14:04:15 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 6-Jul-85 09:23:34 EDT References: <542@petsd.UUCP> <1477@bbncca.ARPA> Reply-To: friesen@psivax.UUCP (Stanley Friesen) Organization: Pacesetter Systems Inc., Sylmar, CA Lines: 36 Summary: In article <1477@bbncca.ARPA> rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) writes: >I don't know about the % of gray matter "normally" used, but one >installment of either the PBS series "The Mind" or another Nova >program provided the following startling findings: > >Using recently developed (tomographic?) techniques for scanning >the brain in detail along various physical variables, researchers >found that a number of people who suffered massive brain damage >at birth or early in life but who display not only above average >abilities but high general intelligence (unlike the "calculating >idiots") are using less than 10%, in some cases less than 5%, >of their brain mass: the rest is clinically or effectively dead! > >I haven't though about how this relates to evolutionary issues, >but it struck me that these simple facts must have a serious >impact on various theories about how the brain works: wouldn't >most of the current theories imply however vaguely a wide yet >limited range of possible values for variables like % of active >brain mass minimally necessary, etc., values well above those >of the above findings? > Actually, before any conclusions can be drawn more details are needed. What proportion of the dead tissue was gray matter and what white? How much was glial cells and how much neurons? What about the density of neurons in the remaining tissue - the same or perhaps higher? What sections of the brain were involved? Of course the answers to some of these questions requires a biopsy or similar invasive sampling technique, so we may have to wait until some of these patients die. Also, why were they given a tomography(a diagnostic test) if they were so normal? -- Sarima (Stanley Friesen) {trwrb|allegra|cbosgd|hplabs|ihnp4|aero!uscvax!akgua}!sdcrdcf!psivax!friesen or {ttdica|quad1|bellcore|scgvaxd}!psivax!friesen