(Photo : Spencer Selover from Pexels)

Your brain is often referred to as your body's command center. 

Mechanisms in your brain power your body to move, think, experience emotion, and create meaning from the outside world. The brain powers your life with, quite possibly, one of the most complex systems imaginable. It's the engine for cognition and consciousness. It solves problems, makes judgements-in a word, it's amazing. 

Your brain interacts to generate everyday processes instantaneously. And, as active as it is, you're generally unaware of its magnitude. It contains innumerable neuron cells that are constantly communicating through electrical signaling. These pulses of electricity pass information along through molecules to relay messages, creating a chain of communication. Think of this as the language of the brain. It's constantly firing simultaneously, at different sites, at a speed we can't comprehend. And your body responds to these commands through movement, language, and physiological processes. 

The brain is so sophisticated and efficient, computer technology models machines after this profound masterpiece. The first automatic digital computer¹-the Analytical Engine-was created to complete mathematical tables originally computed by hand. Today, computers not only allow us to solve mathematical equations in seconds, they have opened up an entire world to instantaneous connection and possibility. 

Anyone with access to a computer becomes bionic-retrieving information with a quick click. Smart phones have become an extension of your fingertips, filling gaps in inadequacies of the human brain. They keep your schedule where memory may fail, calculate the tip during a business lunch, and keep you apprised of weather conditions. The complete integration of technology in today's world makes it seem impossible to live without it. 

Computer scientists have worked to build devices that can store more information and compute more quickly than the human brain. And, in part, they have succeeded. Computers outsmart brains when it comes to calculating complex mathematical equations. Computers were designed to solve intricate problems in a fraction of the time it takes a human brain to make the same calculation. They can also hold more data than the human brain. 

A side-by-side look at these command centers, human versus machine, reveals how far away we are from artificial intelligence that mirrors human intellect. 

Brain Facts Worth Your Computing Power

Brains are amazing, mysterious, and powerful.Scientists still only have partial knowledge as to how, exactly the brain works. 

Your brain allows you to be a logical creature, to navigate your environment, and to possess a consciousness too complicated to dissect. It programs itself and consumes less energy. 

If you look into the fascinating world of healthy brain function compared to the man-made world of computer technology, you can see they have many similarities. But can a computer really come close to matching the intricacies of your human brain? 

Processing Speed

If you consider the speed computers can process information, they are clearly the winner. Compared to the human brain, which is limited by the speed of neurons firing to process information, computers are capable of processing a cycle of information at a much greater speed. Computer processor speed² is measured in megahertz, the number of cycles, or groups of information, it can complete in one second. A computer can complete this process at billions of cycles per second. 

Neurons, on the other hand, are measured in hertz. One hertz transmits a signal at one cycle per second. Information travels through signals on neurons to process information at 200 times per second-or 200 Hz. Compared to the incredible speed of some computers, our brains don't seem to measure up. Your brain's computing speed is powered by neurons. These nerve cells in your brain communicate through electrical signaling. An electric pulse travels from neuron to neuron, and processing speed is the rate at which information moves through the brain. The chemicals in the brain carry signals which are messengers communicating information throughout the body through pathways called neural networks.   

Total Memory Storage

Biology exceeds technology in the realm of memory storage. While it might seem inefficient, the brain has potentially endless storage capacity. It stores vast amounts of information through our experience as humans. Sounds, images, the sequence of events, and obscure concepts are stored in the brain and can be recalled through association. DNA uses long-chain nucleotides to store information along its length. The brain is not particularly good at information processing and memory. But it's able to record input and create automatic links among your memories. Your brain has the ability to store memory³ roughly in the petabyte range (1 petabyte is equal to 1,024 terabyte) if you were to compare it to digital memory. This is enough to contain any amount of learning one can do in a lifetime.   

Technology for the best computers is not even close to achieving the high storage density of the brain. Although, computers can be more reliable to retrieve exact copies of the files you save. Storing information exceeds the ability of the human brain to recall information more efficiently. But it's limited in storage capacity. RAM (random access memory) and hard drive storage make up a computer's memory. A computer with even the best processor is limited to terabytes of memory. 

Loading speeds

A computer loads through conductors inside a computer chip by moving electrons. This happens at a speed much faster than the human brain. A computer can do thousands to millions of calculations per second. Our brain, by contrast, "loads" information through a network of nerves. 

 Retrieving memories or information from the past stimulates a pattern of neural activity generated at the time of original thought. The rate at which you can recall information depends on the strength of the pathways formed when the memory was made. It also depends on where the thought is stored-the brain compartmentalizes information as short-term and long-term memory. The intricate brain has a complicated storage system, making it hard to measure just how fast you can access information. 

Multitasking 

Multitasking for computers is referred to as simultaneously executing more than one function or running more than one program at the same time. For example: your computer's CPU (central processing unit) carries out the instructions of a computer program. Your operating system manages the concurrent tasks of running the programs on your device, quickly switching between computing tasks. This gives an impression of multitasking. If your device is running on a multicore system, it's powered by separate computing engines that are able to multitask independently. 

The brain has no one central processor like the CPU in a computer. Instead, it can take on information in networks that take place all at once. It flows through neural networks simultaneously, rather than through a serial structure, like the computer. Millions of neurons combine to process signals at the same time, allowing you to perform several separate tasks consecutively while tracking the goals of those tasks. Most of this type of processing happens in the prefrontal cortex. This area of the brain controls decision making and complex behaviors and saves information to the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN). The TRN acts as a switchboard, limiting and filtering sensory information. It's here where your amazing brain can effectively decide what to filter-what's distracting or irrelevant-while you're multitasking. 

The computer is an amazing invention. And technology is moving quickly. The incredible abilities of our devices extend our productivity, but they still do not compare to the singular nature of the human brain. Scientists are getting closer to creating a computer modeled after the brain, but until then, technology and the human brain are complimentary and extraordinary in their own ways.  

-

About the Writer

Candice writes about healthy living, health science, and lifestyle topics. Previously, she was a writer and editor covering tech, software, and cybersecurity for a corporate compliance firm. She has a degree in English. She lives in Salt Lake City.

References: 

1. https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co62245/babbages-analytical-engine-1834-1871-trial-model-analytical-engines

2. https://www.techwalla.com/articles/definition-of-processor-speed

3. https://www.psypost.org/2016/01/memory-capacity-of-brain-is-10-times-more-than-previously-thought-40333