Speed of Thought

name        ashley
status       other
grade        other
location     LA

Question -   What is the speed of thought...?  How long does it
take your brain to think something before your body does what your
brain is thinking?
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Ashley,

I think what you are asking about is referred to as "reaction time", the
time that it takes for your body to react to something your brain sees as
requiring a reaction.

This has been studied quite a bit -- it affects things like people's ability
to drive safely and an athlete's ability to perform well (you can test your
reaction time online at this web site from the Exploratorium:

http://www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/reactiontime.html).

The average reaction time for most people is a little bit more than 0.2
seconds.

Here is a little experiment you can try with your friends.  Rest your elbow
on a table with your hand over the edge of the table and have a friend hold
a $1 bill between your thumb and your index finger, with about 1/2 of the
bill above your thumb and half below.  At some random time, your friend
should say "go" and drop the bill.  See if you can catch the bill before it
falls through your finger and your thumb (most people will NOT be able to
catch it because their reaction time is too slow).
For more on reaction time and baseball, see

http://www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/biobaseball.html

Regards,

Todd Clark, Office of Science
US Department of Energy
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Tricky question. Nerve conduction speeds vary depending on the nerve
type...they typically vary from about walking speed to the speed of a
passenger jet airplane. Your question included the thought process too...and
that depends on lots of decission making. If it is just a matter of deciding
to lift your hand it is a combo of the speeds I mentioned. If its a
reflex...it might not even involve the brain. If it involves deciding to buy
a icecream it could take minutes. One nice thing to remember is " the hand
is quicker than the eye"...how short of a time duration can the eye
register?...something else to ask a scientist. (-:

Pf
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