The secret of human intelligence may lie in the power of a single brain cell

What makes the quality encephalon susceptible of language, imagination, mathematics and invention? For galore years, the prevailing presumption was that the concealed of quality quality laic chiefly successful scale: the sheer fig of neurons successful the quality brain—close to 100 billion—and the immense web of connections among them. But a caller survey published successful the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that portion of the reply whitethorn prevarication astatine a overmuch smaller scale: successful the bonzer computational powerfulness of idiosyncratic encephalon cells.