[extropy-chat] "Dead Time" of the Brain

[David Masten]

On Wed, 2006-04-19 at 14:45 -0700, A B wrote:
> 1 Second / 1000 Firings / 100 Billion Neurons = ...
> = ~ 10 ^ -14 Second = span in which not a single neuron anywhere in
> the brain is 
>    firing.
>  
> 10 ^ -14 Second / 10 ^ -43 Second (one Planck Interval) =...
> = *At Least* ~ 10 ^ 29 Planck Intervals between the firings of any two
> (random) 
>    neurons.

Questions:

What is the duration of a firing?
Shouldn't the processes leading up to and away from a firing count as
part of the "on" time?

Thanks,
Dave