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Uncertainty in physiology and physics

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Abstract

It was hypothesized in an earlier work that sensory perception can occur only when the perceiving system is uncertain about the nature of the event being perceived. In the absence of any uncertainty, perception will not take place. The response of the sensory afferent neuron (impulse transmission rate) was calculated using Shannon's measure of uncertainty or entropy. It will now be shown that when the event being perceived is the position and momentum of a particle, Shannon's measure of uncertainty leads to the Heisenberg Uncertainty relationship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, M5S 1A4, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Kenneth H. Norwich

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  1. Kenneth H. Norwich
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Norwich, K.H. Uncertainty in physiology and physics. Bltn Mathcal Biology 43, 141–149 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02459439

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02459439

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