# Burst as a local learning rule in apical but not basal dendrites

**URL:** <https://discourse.numenta.org/t/burst-as-a-local-learning-rule-in-apical-but-not-basal-dendrites/9093>\
**Category:** General Neuroscience\
**Created:** [November 1, 2021, 1:11pm UTC](https://discourse.numenta.org/t/burst-as-a-local-learning-rule-in-apical-but-not-basal-dendrites/9093 "2021-11-01T13:11:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 13

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**Author:** ![bkaz](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.numenta.org/bkaz/32/6455_2.png) [@bkaz](https://discourse.numenta.org/u/bkaz)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://discourse.numenta.org/t/burst-as-a-local-learning-rule-in-apical-but-not-basal-dendrites/9093/13 "2021-11-07T01:34:23Z")

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> [@dmac](#):
>
> This means that if multiple areas are active at the same time then they all become part of (concatenated into) a single large SDR, as opposed to multiple discrete SDR’s representing different areas. There can only be one representation active in the GNW at a time because there is only one GNW.

I don’t see what makes it “one” then. Not everything that happens at the same time in the brain is one representation. Composition of GNW is changing all the time, globally active neurons can become locally active and vice versa?  
Also, that “concatenated” SDR probably won’t be in the same dendrite? It’s likely to be multiple concurrently active dendrites, with outputs summed in the soma?

> [@dmac](#):
>
> I don’t think you really need a strict WTA competition.

I think the reason why singular consciousness exists, vs. just massively parallel processing in the brain, is a brain-to-body bottleneck, implemented in thalamus. Brain neurons can work in parallel, exploring many scenarios subconsciously. But the body can generally execute only one, even two hands can’t work separately, or two eyes look in different directions.  
So these scenarios / threads / motor patterns have to compete for the control of the body, even if that control is imaginary. That requires WTA, and the winning thread becomes conscious.

We like to think about the brain as an information processor, but it evolved for a single purpose: to guide the body. That informs the whole process, even if we are thinking about abstract math.

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