Can electrochemically excited neurons in the brain (1) correspond to pixels (picture elements) (2) in a video display? To use the example of a CRT (cathode-ray tube), (3) impulses from nerves connected to the eyes, ears, etc. would convey information from the outside world to the brain's neurons - just as the CRT's electron beam lights up the pixels on a video screen. The bright pixels form the picture we see when watching TV and so on.
When sufficiently large numbers of neurons are activated by neural impulses, they could form an image corresponding to the input from the eyes, ears, brain's frontal lobes, etc. Depending on which parts of the brain are stimulated, the image could represent a memory of the past or an image, sound etc. in the present's exterior, or an idea concerning what will happen in the future. This might be what occurs in an animal which does not use English, Chinese, etc. In humans, the words and sentences of a language we grew up with (or learned later) can be used to translate each memory/image/sound/thought.
How can neurons activated by neural impulses form an image corresponding to the input from the eyes, ears, brain's frontal lobes, etc? The images don’t need to be in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. They could be formed by another, invisible type of light. Neurons function electrochemically – so images created by them could be products of electrical frequencies. If Einstein was correct when he published “Do gravitational fields play an essential role in the structure of elementary particles?”, (4) the frequencies might be gravitational ones interacting with electrical or electromagnetic waves to produce the subatomic particles chemicals are made of.
REFERENCES
(1) Ornstein, R., Thompson, R.F. and Macaulay, D. – The Amazing Brain – Chatto & Windus / The Hogarth Press, 1985
(2) Crystal, D. (editor) – Penguin Encyclopedia – Penguin Reference Library, 2006 - pixel, p. 1052
(3) Challoner, J. (general editor) – 1001 Inventions That Changed The World – Cassell Illustrated, 2009 - Cathode Ray Tube, p. 410
(4) Einstein, A. - Spielen Gravitationfelder im Aufbau der Elementarteilchen eine Wesentliche Rolle? (Do gravitational fields play an essential role in the structure of elementary particles?) - Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, (Math. Phys.), 349-356, Berlin, 1919
There are two major differences to a CRT: Each neuron sends out energy in all directions (not in a single direction), and the brain is 3D, not 2D, so I would rather talk about voxels, known from 3D imaging, instead of pixels.
Sascha Grusche
I understand the appeal of voxels. However, I think the image formed by the pixels doesn't have to be 2D - it can be 3D. I speak of "sufficiently large numbers of neurons" - so these could act in a similar way as the essentially 2D retinas of the eyes. Their slightly different positions enable the optical cortex to provide 3D depth perception. Most neurons receive signals via the dendrites and send out signals down the single axon i.e. in a single direction. If some as yet uninvented device combined the outputs of a sufficiently large number of CRTs into one image, that image could be 3D.
Voxels can be compared to qubits. A quantum computer's qubits are appealing and may appear to be capable of much more than the "2D" binary digits of, say, my laptop. But according to a quantum-gravity hypothesis I'm working on, the topology and curvilinear time of the universe are products not of qubits, but of old-fashioned binary digits aka base-2 mathematics. Unfortunately, I can't claim the universe is the product of my laptop. :-)
I'd like to add a little regarding my comment "The images don’t need to be in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum." They could be formed by another, invisible type of light e.g. capacitive scanning can use electrical capacitors to create a three-dimensional image of your finger- or thumb-print and ensure that nobody else can unlock your smartphone (Agius, M. – Bond Gadgets: From Reel to Real – Cosmos Magazine, Issue 97, pp. 109-110) If some as-yet-uninvented relative of the capacitive scanner combined the outputs (electron beams) of a sufficiently large number of CRTs into one image, that image could be 3D. As the article in Cosmos Magazine points out in (4), light (optical) scanning illuminates the electrical image. This is similar to viewing the interference pattern recorded on photographic film during holography by illuminating it with laser or ordinary light.
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