What's the human brain's MAXIMUM data storage capacity ? Any idea ?

Originally posted by DaRAGE
This 1 terabyte to 2.5 peta bytes is I believe non-sense. Imagine those people who are around who do not forget anything. Not like us normal chaps who forget most things... These people don't forget anything at all. Crazy as that sounds. I would say that 2.5 petabytes of information wouldn't be enough for these people.

I actually think you have a point. 2.5 petabytes isn't really all that much in the grand scheme of things. Consider this:

if your brain worked like a digital video recorder in a television, 2.5 petabytes would be enough to hold three million hours of TV shows. You would have to leave the TV running continuously for more than 300 years to use up all that storage.

Now consider that our memories aren't just sound and visual data, but also smells, tastes, and even emotional states. Furthermore, our vision is in a much higher definition compared to normal TV, although we don't typically remember things (let alone all things we see) in the same quality as we initially see them. Even if we were to store an extremely small percentage of everything we experience and learn, the amount of storage space required would be massive.

I think that we're able to keep storing new memories because the old ones are fading away and freeing up space. If you no longer need a memory, you will stop recalling that certain memory. The more you think about a certain thing, the more you strengthen the neural networks involved with those memories. In this way, we reinforce the memories that we are thinking about the most. Even so, I think the storage space of the Human brain must be at least a couple of petabytes.

reply to post by tauristercus


As is the Universe.... multidimensional and infinite.

I think its impossible to put an upper or lower limit on the human brains ability to store data. Because of the unique way our brains operate, and because we know so little about the way our brains actually store individual memories (when compared with our understanding of technological data storage) , to use a scale based on our knowledge of computers would be an error.

The other thing is, that some people may have the capacity to remember everything they do,see, hear, touch or taste, in super hi def, but have a mental dysfunction which prevents them from expressing those memories. Others may be able to express highly abstract notions, and have no data retention what so ever in comparison. I think that due to the very diverse behavior shown from brain one to another brain, that making statements of fact about the upper limits of human data storage would be rather less than useful, and probably misleading, even were a reasonable figure to be decided upon. There is certainly no reliable test to determine an individuals storage capacity in bytes at this time.

The truely amazing thing is our PROCESSING speed, not the size of our storage.

Brain memory essentially works like a relational database with data retension governed mostly by use, but with the added feature that the storage mechanism can reduce quality of rarely used memories, thus saving space. This means that the brain doesn't really have a limit.

I believe that everything that every one of our senses ever experiences....no matter how inane...is permanently stored....I'm talking every second of every day of our lives. The problem is recall.

I don't think we've even encroached on the upper limit of data (memories) that can be retained. From personal experience, the significant events in our lives remain at the forefront of memory because we 'refresh' them more often by thinking about those events. The more mundane everyday stuff is still in there though but might need a sensory cue (visual, audio, sensation) to bring it out of longterm storage and some people are better at doing this than others. I've found that I can recall virtually every experience since the age of 3 or thereabouts although some ordinary things do take a little time to 're-construct' and quite often get involuntary recall of certain events from unexpected cues (if that makes any sense) - something like 'deja vu' but the memories are real.

As with all electro-chemical systems, the potential for malfunction and damage is always there so treasure your memories while you have them.

Originally posted by tauristercus
Most of us know that hard drive storage capacity in our pc's, laptops, etc is measured in millions of (or mega) bits of information, commonly referred to as MegaBytes (Mb) and GigaBytes (Gb). Current hard drive technology is capable of storing in excess of 500 Gb of data and some have even exceeded 2 TerraBytes (Tb) of storage capacity.

This got me thinking about that wonderful organ between our ears, namely the human brain, and it occurred to me that I have no idea whatsoever of it's MAXIMUM data storage potential. I tried a quick Google but didn't really come up with anything definitive.
One would have to assume that there MUST be an upper limit as I assume we can't keep on storing new data indefinitely. Is memory loss over time just nature's way of freeing up storage space already used to allow new data to be assimilated and stored ? So, how much of the brain's data storage potential is used on average ... 10% ? ... 20% ? ... 60% ?
Is it even theoretically possible to completely use up the brain's entire storage capacity ? Is it even worth speculating on the possible repercussions in such an eventuality ?

Has anyone come across any studies that can put a scientifically proven DEFINITIVE number on how much data the human brain can store or is it simply a case of "we know the brain stores data/information but we're clueless as to an upper limit".

edit on 30/12/11 by tauristercus because: (no reason given)

Answer: A normal human astral body contains approximately four billion, trillion electrons. These electrons have a life span of approximately ten billion, trillion of your earth years. They were created at the moment of creation. Your Astral body contains them.

An Astral body is not quite what you would call a pure spirit. On Earth, there is a belief that the spirit is made of nothing. This is false. The Astral body is composed of billions of electrons, exactly marrying your physical shape. Each of these electrons has a memory. 100 'gigabytes' each. And each one those billions of electrons is capable of retaining as much information as is contained in every single book that fill all the shelves of an average town library. - Source Thiaoouba by Michel Desmarquet

Originally posted by Thiaoouba Prophecy
Answer: A normal human astral body contains approximately four billion, trillion electrons. These electrons have a life span of approximately ten billion, trillion of your earth years. They were created at the moment of creation. Your Astral body contains them.

An Astral body is not quite what you would call a pure spirit. On Earth, there is a belief that the spirit is made of nothing. This is false. The Astral body is composed of billions of electrons, exactly marrying your physical shape. Each of these electrons has a memory. 100 'gigabytes' each. And each one those billions of electrons is capable of retaining as much information as is contained in every single book that fill all the shelves of an average town library. - Source Thiaoouba by Michel Desmarquet

The Astral body is composed of billions of electrons, exactly marrying your physical shape.
REPUTABLE SCIENTIFIC source, please.

Each of these electrons has a memory. 100 'gigabytes' each.
REPUTABLE SCIENTIFIC source, please.

And each one those billions of electrons is capable of retaining as much information as is contained in every single book that fill all the shelves of an average town library.
REPUTABLE SCIENTIFIC source, please.

think of how much music you can remember
days worth memorized, note for note, with ease. how does the brain do it.
also remembering details, abstract ideas/concepts, visualizing things that arent there.

its so weird to me, that in my skull is a brain that does thinking. you dont feel anything physically happening, it's just.. natural...

reply to post by tauristercus


I always thought I heard it was around 10 terabytes. Or that might just be processing power?

reply to post by korathin


11,2 million bits per second.......

I tried explaining this number once in a thread.....it wasn't received with much enthousiasm. It's not possible to compare the brain to a computer, not it's processing power or it's storage capacity.

Peace

reply to post by tauristercus


What if the brain is a transmitter and not a hard-drive itself?

As Julian Jaynes points out, the metaphor of "storage capacity" is something that was first in behavior. Much in the same way as the brain/mind has been likened to the gears of a clock, or the workings of a steam engine, or the caverns of a cave system.

The metaphor of the mind is the world it perceives.

Come back in 50 years and everyone will be using the latest expression of human behavior as a metaphor of the mind. The function of consciousness guarantees this process.

Since consciousness is a function not a thing, its capacity is limited only by how fast our sphere of knowledge expands...which is nearly instantaneous because of the internet.

The brain is finite is physical size but infinite in capacity.

The human brain is limitless due to the mind. While experience can be stored, imagination cannot merely be stored but expanded to infinity. The mind is connected to the spiritual domain so that it can receive an infinate amount of experience, knowledge, and imagination.

reply to post by DaRAGE


i thought the new idea was that info is
stored in the whole of the body not just
the brain

like organ transplant receivers telling of
new skills and hobbies gives it a good
reason to think it at least plausible

a normal, average brain of a person with a 115 IQ... would have enough capacity to store 130 years of 24-7-365
life experiences and new survival knowledge for the person to thrive in a competitive world.


so, to me, the answer to a brains capacity would be 'immeasurable'... not because of the 'byte model' of information stored...
but because of the very time consuming method of recording the answers that prove ones' knowledge...


reminds me of the 1950's sci-fi notion that egg-heads skulls grew to accomodate a brain that is soaking up knowledge in degrees of magnitude


Einsteins brain was grey and had the average number of convolutions , so brain size is not a requirement of knowledge, or fact & data capacity... it is the neural networks and pathways one creates (for their individual memory) that dictates ones capacity and to make that date useful....

reply to post by 547000


and we have like a cloud type brain
the collective mind

imho i think we will never know

There is speculation that a neural network can hold a near infinite number of patterns. I'd provide some links, but all I'm turning up on the subject is a bunch of stuffy research papaers.

Originally posted by maryhinge
i thought the new idea was that info is
stored in the whole of the body not just
the brain

like organ transplant receivers telling of
new skills and hobbies gives it a good
reason to think it at least plausible

well there is that too. The heart is meant to have some memory, and apparently wisdom teeth do too... I have a wisdom tooth that is useless and needs to be taken out... but i dont actually want to for this reason hahah