<p>How many electrical sparks occur in the brain, on average, per minute and at what structures do they occur?  For the "how many" figure, I would be happy to have ranges here from relaxed to excited states.</p>

<p>I have heard estimations in the thousands to billions.  Further I have heard some postulation that sparks actually occur at the synaptic cleft by way of the ionization that is created in this space - eg the ionization creates a directed channel for electrical spark channeling.  I realize that it is believed that the electrical impulses travel down the axons, but it appears that there indeed is a point of true spark when the gaps are encountered and I would like to see some clarification and research on this if possible.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-06T17:20:53.073Z
what is a "spark"
jona
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2015-11-06T17:23:27.227Z
I guess you might visualize it as a "free space" energy discharge, but there could be other things in the mix such as ionizing molecules, etc.  I would perhaps visualize it as what you might see on a spark plug or, on a much more grand scale, a lightning bolt.  Obviously that which is occurring in biological systems is extremely low voltage as compared with either of those comparisons.
ylluminate
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2015-11-06T17:24:15.980Z
Can you properly define the thing you're asking about?
jona
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2015-11-06T17:24:52.880Z
See: http://cl.ly/3O250t0m0Q2s and http://cl.ly/390h0w2B0N1Y
ylluminate
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-06T17:30:01.117Z
@jona so first, I am looking for the frequency of distinct electrical pulses that would occur in such a manner in the human brain per whatever period of time (ultimately going for a per minutely figure).  Second I am seeking to understand the microbiological process of where these pulses occur in the neuron / dendritic structure, etc.
ylluminate
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-06T17:37:23.973Z
The first article is about action potentials. The second one is about subthreshold activity and action potentials.
jona
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2015-11-06T17:43:20.673Z
I was trying to give you context with those articles; "distinctive change in voltage" is what we're going for here with a discharge.  I don't come from a neurology background, yet I am working to understand the mechanics at a microscopic level of neuroanatomy.
ylluminate
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-07T23:35:19.557Z
Where did you hear estimates in the "thousands"? I started playing around with this and am already easily over a trillion.
Chelonian
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2015-11-07T23:49:34.423Z
@Chelonian that's remarkable and fantastic.  What I heard was just in chatter with some other folks who didn't really know.  Where are you getting these figures to play with for your own calculations?
ylluminate
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-08T00:56:07.727Z
@ylluminate Based on a figure of ~86 billion neurons per adult brain (http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2012/feb/28/how-many-neurons-human-brain) * 0.29 (http://aiimpacts.org/rate-of-neuron-firing/) "sparks" (action potentials) a second * 60 secs = 1.5 trillion. But I stopped there, too daunted to try to count all smaller voltage changes. But...given there may be, say, 100 trillion (http://www.human-memory.net/brain_neurons.html) synapses, and if all had a 90% failure rate, and followed the 0.29AP/s rate, you're looking at another 17.4 quadrillion events a minute?!
Chelonian
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2015-11-09T03:02:46.290Z
@Chelonian that sounds like an answer!
Seanny123
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-11-17T00:14:39.903Z
@Chelonian did indeed answer this question satisfactorily in the above comment.  Sadly I was going to add that as an answer here, but since the question was put on hold I'm just going to leave a comment here.
ylluminate
<neuroscience><neuroimaging><neuroanatomy>
What is the general frequency (or range of frequencies) of "sparks" in the human brain per minute and at what locations?
ylluminate
# What is the general frequency (or range of frequencies) of "sparks" in the human brain per minute and at what locations?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-11-06)

How many electrical sparks occur in the brain, on average, per minute and at what structures do they occur? For the "how many" figure, I would be happy to have ranges here from relaxed to excited states.

I have heard estimations in the thousands to billions. Further I have heard some postulation that sparks actually occur at the synaptic cleft by way of the ionization that is created in this space - eg the ionization creates a directed channel for electrical spark channeling. I realize that it is believed that the electrical impulses travel down the axons, but it appears that there indeed is a point of true spark when the gaps are encountered and I would like to see some clarification and research on this if possible.

**Tags:** neuroscience, neuroimaging, neuroanatomy

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: what is a "spark"  
> **username_0**: I guess you might visualize it as a "free space" energy discharge, but there could be other things in the mix such as ionizing molecules, etc.  I would perhaps visualize it as what you might see on a spark plug or, on a much more grand scale, a lightning bolt.  Obviously that which is occurring in biological systems is extremely low voltage as compared with either of those comparisons.  
> **username_1**: Can you properly define the thing you're asking about?  
> **username_0**: See: http://cl.ly/3O250t0m0Q2s and http://cl.ly/390h0w2B0N1Y  
> **username_0**: @username_1 so first, I am looking for the frequency of distinct electrical pulses that would occur in such a manner in the human brain per whatever period of time (ultimately going for a per minutely figure).  Second I am seeking to understand the microbiological process of where these pulses occur in the neuron / dendritic structure, etc.  
> **username_1**: The first article is about action potentials. The second one is about subthreshold activity and action potentials.  
> **username_0**: I was trying to give you context with those articles; "distinctive change in voltage" is what we're going for here with a discharge.  I don't come from a neurology background, yet I am working to understand the mechanics at a microscopic level of neuroanatomy.  
> **username_2**: Where did you hear estimates in the "thousands"? I started playing around with this and am already easily over a trillion.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 that's remarkable and fantastic.  What I heard was just in chatter with some other folks who didn't really know.  Where are you getting these figures to play with for your own calculations?  
> **username_2**: @username_0 Based on a figure of ~86 billion neurons per adult brain (http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2012/feb/28/how-many-neurons-human-brain) * 0.29 (http://aiimpacts.org/rate-of-neuron-firing/) "sparks" (action potentials) a second * 60 secs = 1.5 trillion. But I stopped there, too daunted to try to count all smaller voltage changes. But...given there may be, say, 100 trillion (http://www.human-memory.net/brain_neurons.html) synapses, and if all had a 90% failure rate, and followed the 0.29AP/s rate, you're looking at another 17.4 quadrillion events a minute?!  
> **username_3**: @username_2 that sounds like an answer!  
> **username_0**: @username_2 did indeed answer this question satisfactorily in the above comment.  Sadly I was going to add that as an answer here, but since the question was put on hold I'm just going to leave a comment here.  

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## 0 answers

