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Evidence for Unconscious Math, Language Processing Abilities
the_newsbeagle writes "It's hard to determine what the unconscious brain is doing since, after all, we're not aware of it. But in a neat set of experiments, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's consciousness lab found evidence that the unconscious brain can parse language and perform simple arithmetic. The researchers flashed colorful patterns at test subjects that took up all their attention and allowed for the subliminal presentation of sentences or equations. In the language processing experiment, researchers found that subjects became consciously aware of a sentence sooner if it was jarring and nonsensical (like, for example, the sentence 'I ironed coffee')."
Sudoku is not Math. It's something that happens to have numbers in it (but they could be any other kind of symbols, and it would work in exactly the same way).
My first program:
Hell Segmentation fault
No, epilepsy is a "cascade reaction" in the cortex. Basically, a cluster of neurons, (usually in the visual cortex), gets overloaded with rapidly changing stimulus, and continues to activate after the stimulus ends. This "noise" activity spreads through the cortex from the site of origin, like a ripple on a lake. The activated region remains hyperstimulated until the neurons temporarily shut down.
In many epileptics, they experience visual hallucenations of very complex black and white patterns. (sometimes with vivid colors) these hallucenations quickly overwhelm them, and their whole brain gets overloaded, and then enters a quiescent state for awhile. (unconciousness.) The state of hyperstimulation is the seizure, and is what causes the convulsions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epileptic_seizure
Essentially, their brain goes haywire for awhile, until the neurons become exhausted from cycling their ion pumps, and shut down. after this sedate period, normal activity can resume, since the anomalous internal stimulation will have abated.
Even epileptics can have such seizures, if the proper stimulus is provided.