<p>There are tons of cycles in the brain. The study of how the brain uses these cycles are used for computation is called Theoretical Neuroscience. <a href="https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/theoretical-neuroscience?page=1&amp;sort=votes&amp;pagesize=15">Browsing the tag on this website</a> is one way to become introduced to those ideas.</p>

<p>Alternatively, these loops are framed in different ways in "How to Build a Brain" by Chris Eliasmith. Loops involving a population node connecting to itself are considered to be memories. Longer loops, such as the basal-ganglia$\rightarrow$thalamus$\rightarrow$cortex loop could be considered analogous to the "main event loop" of a program, but with a few caveats.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-18T21:07:32.980Z
2018-03-18T21:07:32.980Z
Seanny123
<p>If we consider neurons nodes and connections between them edges, are cycles (from graph theory) are possible in the brain?</p>

<p>To put it another way, would the signal generated from <code>neuron1</code> be able to travel around in a circuit of other neurons and come back to activate <code>neuron1</code> again? Or is this generally not possible because <code>neuron1</code> would still be recovering/re-potentiating?</p>

<p>If yes, as a programmer I would expect this to be the mechanism by which contiguous experience would be possible (ie. the main event loop of an application). Any studies/field/reseachers you could point me to for further research?</p>

<neuroscience><theoretical-neuroscience>
Are cycles possible in circuits of neurons?
user2898096
# Are cycles possible in circuits of neurons?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-03-18)

If we consider neurons nodes and connections between them edges, are cycles (from graph theory) are possible in the brain?

To put it another way, would the signal generated from `neuron1` be able to travel around in a circuit of other neurons and come back to activate `neuron1` again? Or is this generally not possible because `neuron1` would still be recovering/re-potentiating?

If yes, as a programmer I would expect this to be the mechanism by which contiguous experience would be possible (ie. the main event loop of an application). Any studies/field/reseachers you could point me to for further research?

**Tags:** neuroscience, theoretical-neuroscience


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-03-18. Score: 1

There are tons of cycles in the brain. The study of how the brain uses these cycles are used for computation is called Theoretical Neuroscience. [Browsing the tag on this website](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/theoretical-neuroscience?page=1&sort=votes&pagesize=15) is one way to become introduced to those ideas.

Alternatively, these loops are framed in different ways in "How to Build a Brain" by Chris Eliasmith. Loops involving a population node connecting to itself are considered to be memories. Longer loops, such as the basal-ganglia$\rightarrow$thalamus$\rightarrow$cortex loop could be considered analogous to the "main event loop" of a program, but with a few caveats.


---

