Information environment and brain function: A new concept of the environment for the brain

Abstract

The brain is an organ which receives and processes information from the environment, and controls actions on the environment. The processing of information in the brain is mediated by chemical reactions, and therefore, “material” and “information” are practically equivalent inside the brain. It is interesting to note that the safety of the environment and related health impacts, has previously been evaluated solely using the material and energy scales mentioned above. However, given the role of the brain in higher animals, there is a growing concern that measurements of the environment solely based on material and energy may be inadequate. In this chapter, the author introduces the framework of “information environment science”, first proposed by Tsutomu Oohashi in 1989, with the intention of promoting a more comprehensive understanding of the environment by integrating a new third scale of information with the existing two scales of material and energy. The author then discusses the concept of essential information, which can be thought of as an “essential nutrient” for the brain, and discusses studies in sound environment information as a possible candidate for essential information. It is hoped that such studies will lead to a broader acknowledgment and understanding of the information environment as a new environmental concept in brain research.