Re: Can we translate a human brain's storage capacity into computer memory?

Any answer to this question should be taken with several grains of salt. 
Digital computers and brains don't work the same way.  For one thing, every
memory location in a computer is created equal.  You can move stuff from
one location to another without losing any information.  In the brain, on
the other hand, certain cells specialize in certain jobs.  While there is
considerable plasticity (the ability to change what some part of the brain
does, enabling the brain to recover from injury), there's nothing like the
uniformity seen in a computer.  Secondly, processing and memory are
completely separated in a computer;  not so in the brain.  Finally, data in
computers is digital, and not really susceptible to "noise".  In the brain, 
there are continuous voltages.

With those caveats, let's look at numbers.  The brain contains 10^11
neurons -- in other words, 100 giganeurons.  Each one has synapses
connecting it to up to 1000 other neurons.  Many researchers believe that
memories are stored as patterns of synapse strengths.  If we suppose that
the strength of each synapse can take on any of 256 values, then each
synapse corresponds to a byte of memory.  This gives a total of (very
roughly) 100 terabytes for the brain.

For more info, see the book "Mind and Brain: Readings from Scientific
American".


[Admin Note:  Please note that 1 byte = 28 bits = 256 bits 
with each bit corresponding to one value for the strength of the synapse.]