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How fast is the speed of thought? - Seena Mathew

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TEDEd Animation

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Your mortal enemy has captured you and hooked you up to a bizarre experiment. He’s extended your nervous system with one very long neuron to a target about 70 meters away. At some point, he’s going to fire an arrow. If you can then think a thought to the target before the arrow hits it, he’ll let you go. So who wins that race? Seena Mathew examines the speed of thought.

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Neurons that send pain signals are generally unmyelinated fibers while those that send visual signals are myelinated. If you were injured, what would happen first

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Seena Mathew
  • Director Andrew Foerster
  • Narrator Bethany Cutmore-Scott
  • Sound Designer Devin Polaski
  • Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
  • Editorial Director Alex Rosenthal
  • Producer Bethany Cutmore-Scott
  • Script Editor Cella Wright
  • Fact-Checker Jennifer Nam

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