Discrete Information and Life - Infobiotics: Information in Biotic Systems - page 23

1.8.3 Neuron Graph

The structure of our brain is a graph built on a networks of about 10 11 nodes (neu-
rons) connected by means of 10 14 edges (synapses). Figure 1.15 reports an origi-
nal drawing by Ramon y Cajal, the Spanish scientist who discovered the neuron,
on the basis of a visualization technique introduced by the Italian scientist Camillo
Golgi (both scientists received the Nobel prize for their discoveries), while Fig. 1.16
(http://www.sciencecases.org/split − brain/split − brain.asp) provides a schematic rep-
resentation of its structure.

Fig. 1.15 An original drawing of a neuron by Ramon y Cajal

Fig. 1.16 A schematic structure of a neuron (Credit: National Institute on Drug Abuse)