– For Scientists/Experts –

Fundamental principles by which the brain could process information

The fundamental principles provide innovative views into how mental conditions/disorders could develop, opening new possibilities for therapy development and prevention.

Main conclusion:

Various mental conditions and disorders can develop purely from information management as it takes place inside the brain, without neural or chemical abnormalities.

Based on a somewhat different neural network model

The development of this model started from the question: With a systems level view and with known architectural criteria of the brain in mind, what are the most fundamental design criteria for developing a model to explain how the brain could process information? Together with knowledge from other areas (computer architectures and information management in particular), it led to the following design criteria, among others:

• Due to butterfly effects and capacity bottlenecks, it is unlikely an "if x then y" information management will work (comparable with weather forecasting)
• To learn and due to patterns having multiple meanings, it is necessary to disable patterns unsuited for the given situations.
• Due to the slow speed of neurons, the maximum number of neurons between a thought and muscle activation is about 100. This implies even less neurons with parallel processes.
• Due to the slow speed of neurons, addressing and synchronisation challenges with parallel processing (see computers), it is unlikely information/data is transferred between different parts of the brain (the model works without data transfer).

The model led to fundamental principles/design criteria by which the brain could process information (click here¹ to download a poster containing the principles).

Status – June 2010

• Designed to a level that the model can be programmed and simulation started
• Published and posters shown at scientific conferences (see references below)
• Presentations given at University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland and University of Bielefeld, Germany.
• Patent applications are pending in the United States and Europe. It is noted that non-commercial activities for scientific research purposes and, in Europe, therapeutic methods are not restricted by patents. With regard to the US, the applicant declares that he will not enforce patent claims relating exclusively to therapeutic methods and will not claim royalties for the execution of such therapeutic methods in the US. It is noted that applicant does not grant a free-licence for products (for example monitoring equipment) used as part of a therapeutic method. However, such licensing is normally covered between product vendor and patent applicants.

Download posters / references

Oetringer, E., Casanova, M., Fitzgerald, M., Fundamental Principles by Which the Brain Could Process Information - An Information Management Perspective. NeuroTalk2010 conference, June 2010 (poster): download¹.

Oetringer, E., Casanova, M., Fitzgerald, M., Fundamental principles by which the brain could process information - An information management perspective. Neuroscience 2008 conference, Washington DC, November 2008 and Wiring the Brain, Adare, Ireland, April 2009 (poster): (for latest version: see June 2010 reference).

Oetringer, E., Fitzgerald, M., How autism symptoms could develop at the neuron level - An information management perspective. Scientific conference autism spectrum, Frankfurt, Germany, December 2008 and International Conference on Innovative Research In Autism, Tours, France, April 2009 (poster): download¹.

Oetringer, E., How the brain could make sense out of complex multi-sensory inputs. International Multisensory Research Forum (IRMF), Hamburg, Germany, July 16th - 19th, 2008 (poster; now covered in the fundamental principles poster).

¹ Adobe Reader may be needed.