There is a recent paper, , discussing synaptic pruning, where the authors summarized that: Activity-dependent local protection and lateral inhibition control synaptic competition in developing mitral cells in mice "Synaptic competition is known to facilitate synapse elimination; however, it has remained unknown how different synapses compete with one another within a post-synaptic cell. Here, we investigate how a mitral cell in the mouse olfactory bulb prunes all but one primary dendrite during the developmental remodeling process. We find that spontaneous activity generated within the olfactory bulb is essential." There are a few types of neurons in the brain, numbering in the billions with trillions of synapses, but they cannot be said to be directly involved in functions. There are already neurons identified across brain circuits with higher functional responsibilities for varying necessities. However, these localization finds have not led to solving consciousness or mental health problems. Impulses Explained The direct factors for all the functions of the brain are impulses. The electrical and chemical impulses of nerve cells and their interactions, which is also what the mind is, conceptually. There is no function of the brain that does not involve impulses. There are sets of impulses for functions, exceeding the singular actions of one or just a neurotransmitter. There are functions, of say acetylcholine, but what makes determination in experiences are sets of impulses, with the involvement of acetylcholine, not its singular oversight, even though it makes contributions. Conceptually, wherever there are nerve cells, what is most important are the features of their impulses and their interactions. This is what makes a memory different from modulation, or an emotion from a feeling. In a set, the electrical impulses relay to 'acquire' chemical impulses, with specifications for intensity, shifts, sides, spots, and so on, giving rise to an emotion in one case, and a feeling in another. These specifications are also responsible for how memory is encoded or retrieved. There are features of sets of impulses, like splits, sequences, prioritization, and others, that determine how impulses give off experiences, including mental disorders. There is no difference between how impulses give rise to memory and how it The key difference is specificity for sets of impulses. This is also the reason some parts of the brain are more adapted to some functions than others. does for sentience. Synaptic connections are forms of sequential threads, where matches for impulses in a set may determine something cliché or novel. In general, the function of the mind is to know, applicable to thoughts, feelings, memory, emotions, and so forth. Consciousness Consciousness for being and experience are also knowing processes, possible by the interaction of impulses, with specifications for sets. Conceptually, interactions that determine consciousness may have incoming electrical impulses 'fill' certain bends, for some in a set, while for location in space, could be a rotation, for memory could be a sequence or path of travel for aligning synapses, and so forth. The interactions of impulses across brain centers are not different. This makes the mechanism of consciousness similar, only with a difference in what sets of impulses do when chemical impulses are acquired. Feature image source
