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Article: How the brain really works its wonders. (includes related article Accounting for Emotion)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- June 27, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1988 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Imagine a block of wax. . . ." So wrote the Greek philosopher Plato more than 2,000 years ago to describe mem
ory. Since then, scholars have invoked clocks, telephone switchboards, computers-and even a cow's stomachin equally futile attempts to explain the mysterious workings of the brain.
But an explosion of recent findings in brain science-aided by new computer programs that can simulate brain cells in action-is now revealing that the brain is far more intricate than any mechanical device imaginable. For the first time, brain researchers are beginning to explain how the brain can call up distant memories from a vast storehouse of recollections ...