You’ve Got Networking On The Brain!

Posted by Allen Baird, Partner on Aug 23, 2010 in learning, networking, social media | 0 comments

Literally.  Thinkers throughout history have tried to draw a link between the structure of the mind and the structure of the world. Why? If there is no link, then we can’t prove that what goes on in our heads bears any resemblance to how things really are out there.

A contemporary example of this is Tony Buzan’s concept of radiant thinking. Radiant thinking is the idea that our thoughts can branch out from a central concept in dozens of directions, emulating patterns found in nature. This is the basis of his famous ‘mind map’ technique. Many don’t realize that Buzan claims mind maps are not just a useful learning devise; according to him, they work because they reflect the structure of reality.

More recently, scientists have found that the brain works more like the internet than ‘top down’ company. The traditional view of the brain was that there were higher and lower functions that former a hierarchy. The higher functions acted like a boss giving direct orders to individual lower functions from a position of central authority.

Now findings indicate that there are “loops between differing regions, feeding back to and directly linking regions that were not known to communicate with one another. This is a better fit with the model of vast networks such as the internet.” It seems our brains work in loops, not lines!

It interests me that this research is the analogy between brains and business structures. I’ve blogged before about how the new view of business relationships – both between and within organisations – is one of networks over hierarchy. Now neuroscience follows suit. Which came first? Likewise, with the parallel between a brain and a computer network. Did the technology cause the analogy, or is it an effect of it?

Anyway, if you want to find out more about this topic, read ‘Hypothesis-driven structural connectivity analysis supports network over hierarchical model of brain architecture’. Or speak to Dawn about the practical benefits of social media and business networking.

On second thoughts, just speak to Dawn.

Image credit: Marc_Smith.