This weekend I came into possession of quite a few new books. I never thought that owning a dog would help me to refine my own understanding of our nervous system, but it has proven to be an infinitely helpful learning experience. Depending on the impact of the sensory flux it could reopen behavioral circuits which have been “silenced,” once again linking Holly’s image of the backyard to some sort of reward pathway. As the context of the environment changes-remember Holly’s perception of the backyard with and without the squirrel-input from external stimuli can introduce fluxes of neural activity which dynamically modulate the electrical state of the circuit array. Keeping this image in mind, try to imagine the electrical state in which this circuit array could exist at any moment in time, but don’t forget that this system is intimately linked to the physical world through its sensory devices. I know that it is tough to really envision-I’m still grappling with that myself. Try to envision the brain as an immensely complex three-dimensional array of billions of individual “circuits.” These circuits are analogous to individual neurons, and these neurons, although their connections onto other neurons are guided by some genetic program, are capable of dynamically changing the number and strength of their inputs onto their target cells. It also seems to provide some insight into the way with which our brains-as a computational device-may work to modulate our behavior. It is something to which we as humans are most certainly not immune, but most often not aware. Watching her gives me an appreciation for the continuous variability with which reward can be re-delegated to different behaviors based on context. If she is in urgent need of “relieving” herself, or if a squirrel is running around out there she will bolt out the door the second you open it. I say silenced because that relationship can be re-awoken at any moment depending on the context of her environment. It’s as though whatever neural circuitry, which once linked the backdoor to some sort of reward, has now been “silenced,” thus inhibiting the behavior. Now, when you open the backdoor, she will almost refuse to go out.
This new freedom has definitely changed her view of the “backyard” here at home. Since then she has become very trustworthy off of her leash, so at least once a day Sara walks down to the edge of the bayou and lets Holly run free. Having come from a third floor apartment with no outdoor access she was thrilled to be given the chance to be outside. Initially it was very easy to get her outside. When we moved to the first floor of our apartment complex we gained a patio with a small grassy area for holly to explore. There are fundamental aspects of her behavior which have remained relatively unchanged since the day we brought her home, but the refinement and maturation of these “base” behaviors has displayed an amazing amount of plasticity. Ascent offers wholesale data center space as well as build-to-suit and sale / leaseback data center facilities.My dog Holly’s behavior has been fun to observe since I got her. The Dallas area is one of the most competitive for data centers in the Midwest, with both privately-owned and commercial data center operators choosing it as a strong location for major investments in data center infrastructure. He said that Dallas area was “a premier data center market and our hardened facility offers a different type of product that is well suited as a primary data center site for enterprise end-users as well as businesses seeking disaster recovery and continuity solutions in the Midwest.” Phil Horstmann, CEO of Ascent, pointed out that the recent history of weather in the area had made the availability of the hardened facility a major selling point to potential customers. To achieve this, the data center has 15” thick walls with a 13.5” thick roof built from reinforced concrete as well as an 8,000 lb (3700 kg) blast door at the loading dock. The most significant feature of the new facility is that it is hardened to handle tornados up to F5 in intensity (winds up to 360 MPH or 560 KPH).
0 kommentar(er)
