IUBio

Great Quotes in Neuroscience

Jody Culham culham at wjh.harvard.edu
Thu May 23 22:35:04 EST 1996


> oIf you have a favorite quote, no matter how obscure, contextual, or
> absurd it may be, please email me (with appropriate source reference of
> course, credit where credit is due...) Many thanks, my students love this
> stuff.  James Woodson

"What is thought except a movement that is not connected to a motor
neuron."
          Attributed to Walle Nauta

In addition, there's a great analogy which reportedly also came from Nauta
though I don't have the details.  When trying to explain how a neuron
fires, including concepts like thresholds, all-or-none firing, and
refractory periods, he would make an analogy to flushing a toilet!!  My
students always loved it (though I was always certain to point out that
they shouldn't take it too far -- urine is not a neurotransmitter! :)

Cheers,
Jody



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