[ExI] Is the brain a digital computer?

[scerir]

[mixed items]

Justin Sytsma
Phenomenological Obviousness and the New Science of Consciousness
Philosophy of Science, 76 (December 2009) pp. 958–969
Is phenomenal consciousness a problem for the brain sciences? An increasing 
number of researchers hold not only that it is but that its very existence is a 
deep mystery. That this problematic phenomenon exists is generally taken for 
granted: It is asserted that phenomenal consciousness is just 
phenomenologically obvious. In contrast, I hold that there is no such 
phenomenon and, thus, that it does not pose a problem for the brain sciences. 
For this denial to be plausible, however, I need to show that phenomenal 
consciousness is not phenomenologically obvious. That is the goal of this 
article.

Patrick Crotty, Daniel Schult, Ken Segall (Colgate University)
Josephson junction simulation of neurons
http://arxiv.org/abs/1002.2892
With the goal of understanding the intricate behavior and dynamics of 
collections of neurons, we present superconducting circuits containing 
Josephson junctions that model biologically realistic neurons. These "Josephson 
junction neurons" reproduce many characteristic behaviors of biological neurons 
such as action potentials, refractory periods, and firing thresholds. They can 
be coupled together in ways that mimic electrical and chemical synapses. Using 
existing fabrication technologies, large interconnected networks of Josephson 
junction neurons would operate fully in parallel. They would be orders of 
magnitude faster than both traditional computer simulations and biological 
neural networks. Josephson junction neurons provide a new tool for exploring 
long-term large-scale dynamics for networks of neurons.

See also this page here
http://physicsandcake.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/quantum-neural-networks-1-the-
superconducting-neuron-model/