[extropy-chat] Re: Neuro links

[ben]

Brett Paatsch wrote:

"how much space is between axons, dendrites, synapses on neurons in the 
most densely packed part of the brain? ie how tight do neurons pack at
their tightest and most dense?

Reason I ask is that I think that is an important design scale limit on 
any servicing/repairing nanobots that might want to get between them.

In actual fact I suspect that to try and get a nanobot into the 
extracellular spaces between neurons may be impossible, because the 
space may be
as little as 10s of nanometres in places"


That's an interesting question, but it does occur to me that neurons are 
not hard structures, but soft and squishy, and their membranes are more 
like liquid planes than solid sheets of stuff. Perhaps nanobots could 
'swim' in or through the membranes, so that the packing density of the 
cells isn't so much of an issue. They shouldn't do any damage, as the 
membrane would just seal up behind them.

One thing that nanobots might need to do is get into tight junctions. 
There is *no* space between cells there!

ben