EFTA00773607.pdf

From: "Valentino Braitenberg" To: "Jeffrey Epstein" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Re: Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:16:33 +0000 who is? and how do you know? -- Original Message — From: Jeffrey Epstein To: Valentino Braitenberg Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 10:48 PM Subject: Re: who is doin the best work on signal processing (wavelet or other analysis ) of brain activity On Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 11:49 AM, Valentino Braitenberg wrote: There was a time when anatomy was considered a harmless pastime for shaky old grandfathers, while the young and beautiful stuck electrodes in living brains and clapped their hands everytime a spike appeared on the face of their oscilloscopes. It was at that time that I started my research and picked neuroanatomy as my main tool, for two reasons: (a) because I did not have the money to buy an oscilloscope and (b) because I was fascinated by the idea of networks being able to do almost anything, as the emerging science of electronic computers seemed to suggest. The new look at brains in terms of information handling networks proved successful in various ways. I am proud of the following: (1) a very convincing interpretation of the structure of the cerebellum as a time-measuring device with an accuracy of one millisecond or better; (2) an accurate description of a fiber network between the eye and the brain of insects, where each individual fiber is given origin and destination according to a precise scheme derived from geometrical optics; (3) a model of the visual cortex of mammals in complete agreement with the known facts of cortical anatomy and sufficient to explain all the miraculous effects discovered by Hubel and Wiesel, but not explained by them. Besides these results (1), (2), (3) which were original (and in part even shocking) because of the unusual direct translation of anatomical information into functional schemes, we also did some more conventional neuroanatomy, mainly on the cortex (4), with an emphasis on quantitative relations between number and size of elements, as a necessary contribution to general theories of cortical function (such as Hebb's Cell Assemblies or Moshe Abeles' Synfire Chains). All told, if you want to know "the most promising part of our work", I think it is a rather relaxed way of theory making, unencumbered by mathematical gymnastics and philosophical vanity. Thank you for you interest Valentino -- Original Message -- From: Jeffrey Epstein To: Valentino Braitenberg Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 4:46 PM marvin said you had spoken..., what do you see as the most promising part of your work? The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee. It is the property of Jeffrey Epstein Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this EFTA00773607  communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or by e-mail to [email protected], and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee. It is the property of Jeffrey Epstein Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or by e-mail to [email protected], and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. EFTA00773608