2007-06-12 14:53:43 · 9 answers · asked by JAY 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Medicine
I know that the brain-computer analogy is widespread. People like to attribute brain-like qualities to their computers, and likewise they attribute computer-like qualities to their brains.
It's just not a good comparison. We can create neural networks in *software* that behave like brain pathways on a very small scale, but the actual hardware, the computer itself, bears little resemblance in form or function to a human brain.
The best we can do, as Hunchback Jack did above, is compare certain computer parts to certain brain regions. We could say that the CPU is to the computer what the prefrontal cortex is to the brain. We could compare the data in the hard drive to the episodic and declarative memories in the medial temporal lobe. But these comparisons are at best metaphorical and at worst meaningless.
Having said this, I can answer the question directly. There is no brain of the computer. The entire computer falls woefully short of any comparison to a brain, so there's no way it can contain a component that resembles a brain.
Don't get me wrong; I love computers. I have some limited experience in building and programming them. But for all the complexity of its circuitry, a computer is just a device that follows your directions. There is no cognition being performed by the computer, and that's why it wouldn't make sense to compare a computer to a brain.
2007-06-12 17:18:11 · answer #1 · answered by TFV 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Computers aren't structured like human brains, but the closest analogs are:
* CPU, which does the actual processing. It performs operations on the data.
* The cache, which is a bit like short term memory. It stores the information that the CPU is working on, and information recently used.
* The computer memory and disk, which stores all the information, the programs to be runs, etc.
When a program is run, it is read off the disk (along with any data it uses) into memory. The CPU then reads the instructions and data from the memory, executes the instructions, and stores the result back in memory (and sometimes back to disk). The cache keeps the recent instructions and/or data "handy" in case they are used again.
This would be similar to us trying to remember which day we went to see a movie, for example. But the processes we use to remember, "think" and process information are much more complex and less linear.
HBJ
2007-06-12 15:03:23 · answer #2 · answered by Hunchback Jack 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
depends on what part of the brain. The frontal cortex is most likely compared to the Central processing unit of the computer. The hard disk/RAM are long term/short term memory.
2007-06-12 14:57:37 · answer #3 · answered by Greg 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a computer does not a of a brain.
2007-06-12 15:00:06 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no brain in computers
2007-06-12 15:55:23 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
the CPU central processing unit the brain ,heart ,sole
2007-06-12 14:57:47 · answer #6 · answered by goodguy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The CPU central processing unit
2007-06-12 14:57:30 · answer #7 · answered by sandstone901 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
brain- its cpu- central processing unit
as well as RAM also play important role for processing it.
and availability of space in hard disk also effect of processing.
2007-06-12 15:07:23 · answer #8 · answered by Abhi 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Intel microprocessor (or equivalent).
2007-06-12 15:11:32 · answer #9 · answered by Nothingusefullearnedinschool 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋