Episode 2 - Life: Big data,Networks& Brain Perspective

Welcome to the second episode of the Life series. A series dedicated to life as I see it from different perspectives. In this episode I am interested in discovering more about brains. Their potential in bettering our lives is being unveiled on a daily basis thanks to advances in brain imaging, neuroscience research and data analysis .

As a networking and data science researcher I see my role in analyzing brain data to be a useful tool. Advanced in data analysis and mathematical modelling are key drivers for research progress in understanding brain networks. The 'Network Perspective ' insights about the brain functionality and connectivity is something I have recently been interested and involved in. My background in networking & telecoms begs me to keep thinking about the brain as a sophisticated network with the most sophisticated nodes transmission and clustering protocol(if such comparison can be made).Furthermore, at a personal level, the unlocking potential of realizing that we can improve our brains and remarkably our lives interests me.

Episode 2:

• The human brain has 86bn neuron, each capable of 10,000 connections, creating links with 268mph speed. 
• Neurons are the information processing elements( nodes in a communications network). The density of neurons and the clusters they form across different parts of the brain influences the brain 'connectivity' ,hence blood flow and cognitive abilities.
• The saying we use 10% of our brains capability is a science myth.It is just we are still in early days uncovering how brain works and at the time of this statement (1930s) dormant parts of the brain were considered non-functional. William James puts it as " Most of us don't need our mental potential".
• Our brain weights 2% (1.5Kg for 65Kg human) of the body consuming 20-30% of the energy (Adults),50% (children) and 60%(Infants). This weight percentage of the body is 5% for rodents and 10% for chimpanzees. A similar brain size to humans is that of Primates with the same number of neurons.
• Bigger creatures has bigger brains (whales =9Kg, elephants 5Kg) but not necessarly larger number of neurons.
• There is a trade-off between brain size and the body size for other creatures. It was shown that for animals to increase brain size, they have to reduce their body weight . It is evident that for animals to maintain enough energy for ~68bn neurons, they need to feed for 9 hours a day. This is a  metabolic limitation.
• Research has shown that humans superiority and advanced cognitive abilities over animals is explained  by number and density of the # of neurons(16bn (LARGEST)) in the cerebral cortex ( responsible for logic and awareness).
• we consume 6KCal/day/1bn neuron, that is 516KCal per day to keep brain functional.
• Our brains remarkable efficiency is in the way different parts of brain are activated and made to fire. Both the # of active cells(neurons) and to where/how they communicate is important. The optimum number is shown to be between 1-16%  of all neurons are active at any given time. This is shown to the most energy efficient and carries the most information possible. 

Well remarkable numbers and information! but what is really amazing is that we can , through some actions/habits/strategie,  make our brains more healthier and maintain more of those 'connections'. Those tips are all about understanding 'Brain time' and being able to know how to well  'engage' your brain

Avoid Multi-tasking:

The myth of that we can do up to 39 tasks simultaneously, is just too much on our brain connections and an unwanted 'energy-sink'. Scary enough multi-tasking was shown to increase levels of stress and affects our strength ,will-power and positive attitude upon tackling subsequent tasks.

Prioritize:

'If you are hunting an elephant, don't get distracted chasing rabbits' 

They will just takes up all your energy/day/neuron 

Synthesize:

Media and high tech solutions are teaching us to switch-off ( go on 'auto-pilot' mode) and to chill down as much as possible. However, not engaging our brain much is not in our favour. Our brains are inherently against 'big data' and against 'auto-pilots'. I increasingly worry about my orientation and navigation capabilities having relied on google maps too much.

Look for Inspiration

Inspiration helps get more neurons fired and connect past knowledge with present and future ideas. 

Challenge the status-quo

Similar to auto-pilots , the status-quo implies less engagement of brain cells. Normalizing of the frontal-lobe(CEO of the brain) ability to make decision, logicize and rationalize. I guess you would agree with me that this is a big issue currently imposed on us from the news and lack of authenticity of media.

Memorizing does't equate to Understanding& Comprehending

The most common failure of schools in Sudan, middle east and African countries is the reliance on memorization for education. As for neurosciences, more connections are made upon comprehension that understanding?(someone to help with a reference or figure here please).The current education system kills creativity and innovation. Neuroscience provides the justification why this is the case.

Balance areas of your brain that get connected 

One of the remarkable discoveries about Einstein brain is that he has higher thick connections between 1) Parietal-lobe ( sense and motor skills ) 2) frontal-lobe  ( decison making, abstract thinking)  3) visual cortex 

He also has larger than usual Corpus callosume( under cerebral cortex) ( bundle of neuronal fiber). This is where all signals go through before diverting to the (above) three brain areas.What this means is that he can use more parts of his brain. He can equally activate the right and left size of the brain. This means his brain has lower lateralization and hence higher efficiency in information processing but interestingly those features also apply to schizophrenia. 

Some tips to get 'Einstein-like Brain' is to try and activate different parts of the brain, use non-dominant hand( e.g. left), play music, math puzzles,etc. 

Against 'Big Data'

Although I enjoy some Tera-bytes of data to analyze and discover cool things within, I am wary of the impact of big data on the health of my brain. While being an advocate for ICT role in human development and how the proliferation of data is helping us at various sectors of the society, and as I learn more ,I become increasingly conscious of the relationship between increase in data and human brain consumption trends(Mental junk: we digest 5x times more info today than in 1960s~175 newspapers ).

It turned out that one of the characteristics of  innovation is the ability to focus, to recall 'key' information and concepts and use them to derive others. Innovation is more about building from something known, prioritizing and inter-connecting ideas, which is proportionate to more brain connections but less information overload.

Some research show that above techniques( there are others too) could help increase the blood flow to the brain, engage frontal-lobe more and regain 8-10% increase in blood flow to brain in a matter of hours. I am now more confident that by befriending  and engaging our frontal lobes more , we can do more, enjoy a heather brain and a healthier life.

Thanks for reading. Your comments are really appreciated

Hassan