why doesn't the neurons in the body store information as the neurons in the brain do?

Answer 1

Neurons do not store information, per se. Neurons generate electrical impulses and transmit signals.

However, there are different types of neurons for different types of tasks. The neurons in your frontal lobe, which controls memory and cognition, are qualitatively different from neurons in the rest of your brain. Your body's neurons are generally motor and sensory neurons, which are not designed to help your brain store information, but conduct signals to the brain.

Memory is not yet well understood by neuroscientists; I am helping my principal investigator conduct research on the genetics of memory, which will help to further answer your question, perhaps.

Answer 2

they do, there are just not as many of them. And it's not really information your conciousness recalls, but it is nevertheless information.
If you practice any sports or you learn new mechanical skills (e.g. piano playing, juggling), you not only change your muscles (which is also a way of information storage) but also the neurons which activate your muscles. Certain actions become easier to do with practice, and the it also means that information transmission for those action becomes facilitated for the neuron. Facilitation involves morphological changes at synapses between neurons or neurons and the effector organ. A common mechanism is that the size of the synaptic area increases which allows for the output of more neurotransmitter in the same time (which in turn could allow you to react faster). This happens in the periphery as well as in the motor cortex of your brain.

Look up facilitation and motor memory if you want to know more. Actually a lot of work is also been done at the neuromuscular junction in Drosophila as it is a very accessible system, you can look for that as well.

Answer 3

Neurons themselves don't store information. It is the organization of multiple neurons that creates storage loops. They are organized that way in the brain but not elsewhere.

Answer 4

Neurons in the brain don't really 'store' information. The information is stored as 'patterns' of electrical conduction through the brain which 'regenerate' themselves through the various feedback pathways in the brain.

Doug

Answer 5

Perhaps some do store information. If you touch a hot stove, the spinal cord may cause you to react and pull your hand away faster than if the message went to the brain and was cogitated upon. Once burned, the next event might be even faster because the spinal cord knows what's coming based on initial sensations.