<blockquote>
  <p>I was wondering what happens if <strong>we</strong> lose all electrical impulses in our
  nervous system for a minimum amount of time...  if we have a complete elec. blackout, is our memory erased? Or is our consciousness based soly on the synapsis in our brain and does not care about the electrical state?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If "we" includes other animals down to frogs, then the answer may be that the structure could survive.
<a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00785295" rel="nofollow">springer.com/article</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Preparations with chronically implanted electrodes showed that there
  are periods during which no electrical activity is present in the
  brain of intact, non-anesthetized frogs sitting unconstrained in water
  in a jar. The activity appeared immediately upon stimulation.</p>
  
  <p>The results obtained confirm the suggestion of I. M. Sechenov that the
  electrical activity of the brain occurs either reflexly, or is due to
  direct effects on the brain. Without such effects, there is no
  electrical activity.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>As in a flash drive, there should be a distinction between "electrical potential" and "electrical activity"</p>

<p>An "older" part of our brain is named <strong>reptilian</strong> and extrapolation from the frog would be tempting. I have no background in biology, but since animal models are generally accepted, would say that we may well be the same unless evidence shows us to be different. </p>

<p>To support this intuitively:  an instant view of electrical state of our brain would contain many fewer bits of information than the topology of its whole network. paul_wi11iams </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-08T07:53:56.947Z
That is indeed interesting and might answer my question, but i dont know if those frogs have something like an actual memory at all, so it does not convince me yet. "an instant view of electrical state of our brain would contain many fewer bits of information than the topology of its whole network" -> That seems to be highly intuitive indeed as i would not say so at all: every node in our brain-"network" has many possible electrical states on his own, so the actually there should be much more possible electrical states than just biological, i guess.
user2504380
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-08T16:22:02.590Z
@StrangeLoop Interesting link, but could you elaborate on why you think there's a difference between "no electrical activity" and no electrical activity being picked up by electrodes? I think there's something I'm missing here.
Seanny123
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-14T08:43:53.293Z
I seem to get a lot contra on my question. It seems to be, in fact, too unpractical and speculative, maybe senseless. Ill mark your answer as correct as it offers interesting points.
user2504380
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-07T18:25:06.933Z
2014-10-07T18:25:06.933Z
paul_wi11iams
<p>I was wondering what happens if we lose all electrical impulses in our nervous system for a minimum amount of time. So first of all it is obvious that we will break together, as we are dead while we are in black out state, but I am interesting in the "afterwards".
I could also put it this way: 
Is our brain like a RAM or a Harddrive? 
So, if we have a complete elec. blackout, is our memory erased?
Or is our consciousness based soly on the synapsis in our brain and does not care about the electrical state? </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-07T08:41:26.573Z
It is a theoretical question. As one should notice i just want to know: is our memory coded into the brain only biologically or also physically.
user2504380
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-07T09:13:50.543Z
Still does not answer my question: "The current firing" patterns hold information", yes i was aware of this and i will read the article, as i didnt yet, however, how relevant are these information for my memory (e.g. my long term memory)? And yes i can cut power of harddrive without losing any information at all and thats just why i set it in contrast to RAM, as RAM needs permament power supply to keep data. And again, it is a theoretical question, i am rly confident that the scenario of a electrical "restart" wont ever happen practically.
user2504380
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-13T02:39:09.427Z
see http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/a/1954/421
John Pick
<neuroscience><memory><consciousness>
Brain after (electrical) blackout
user2504380
# Brain after (electrical) blackout

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-10-07)

I was wondering what happens if we lose all electrical impulses in our nervous system for a minimum amount of time. So first of all it is obvious that we will break together, as we are dead while we are in black out state, but I am interesting in the "afterwards".
I could also put it this way:
Is our brain like a RAM or a Harddrive?
So, if we have a complete elec. blackout, is our memory erased?
Or is our consciousness based soly on the synapsis in our brain and does not care about the electrical state?

**Tags:** neuroscience, memory, consciousness

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: It is a theoretical question. As one should notice i just want to know: is our memory coded into the brain only biologically or also physically.  
> **username_0**: Still does not answer my question: "The current firing" patterns hold information", yes i was aware of this and i will read the article, as i didnt yet, however, how relevant are these information for my memory (e.g. my long term memory)? And yes i can cut power of harddrive without losing any information at all and thats just why i set it in contrast to RAM, as RAM needs permament power supply to keep data. And again, it is a theoretical question, i am rly confident that the scenario of a electrical "restart" wont ever happen practically.  
> **username_1**: see http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/a/1954/421  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-10-07. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

> I was wondering what happens if **we** lose all electrical impulses in our
> nervous system for a minimum amount of time... if we have a complete elec. blackout, is our memory erased? Or is our consciousness based soly on the synapsis in our brain and does not care about the electrical state?

If "we" includes other animals down to frogs, then the answer may be that the structure could survive.
[springer.com/article](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00785295)

> Preparations with chronically implanted electrodes showed that there
> are periods during which no electrical activity is present in the
> brain of intact, non-anesthetized frogs sitting unconstrained in water
> in a jar. The activity appeared immediately upon stimulation.
>
> The results obtained confirm the suggestion of I. M. Sechenov that the
> electrical activity of the brain occurs either reflexly, or is due to
> direct effects on the brain. Without such effects, there is no
> electrical activity.

As in a flash drive, there should be a distinction between "electrical potential" and "electrical activity"

An "older" part of our brain is named **reptilian** and extrapolation from the frog would be tempting. I have no background in biology, but since animal models are generally accepted, would say that we may well be the same unless evidence shows us to be different.

To support this intuitively: an instant view of electrical state of our brain would contain many fewer bits of information than the topology of its whole network. paul\_wi11iams

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: That is indeed interesting and might answer my question, but i dont know if those frogs have something like an actual memory at all, so it does not convince me yet. "an instant view of electrical state of our brain would contain many fewer bits of information than the topology of its whole network" -> That seems to be highly intuitive indeed as i would not say so at all: every node in our brain-"network" has many possible electrical states on his own, so the actually there should be much more possible electrical states than just biological, i guess.  
> **username_3**: @StrangeLoop Interesting link, but could you elaborate on why you think there's a difference between "no electrical activity" and no electrical activity being picked up by electrodes? I think there's something I'm missing here.  
> **username_0**: I seem to get a lot contra on my question. It seems to be, in fact, too unpractical and speculative, maybe senseless. Ill mark your answer as correct as it offers interesting points.  

---

