The Biological Computer

Sitting on top of all this activity is the brain. The brin is an almost incalculably intricate information storage system, which consists of billions of specialized cells called neurons, each with up to 10,000 connections with other cells.

Neurons communicate with each other through chemical substances called neurotransmitters. By seven weeks of age, messages move through the cat's is brain at almost 240 mph (386 kph).

The rate of transmission slows down with age, but recent studies have shown that this can be reversed. Elderly cats offered mental stimulation can actually grow heavier brains. The increased weight is due not to new brain cells, but to more connections between existing ones.

The brain's capacity to store information is a tally predetermined. Some stored data is instinctive, or present at birth, and controls sexual behavior, territorial marking aggression, and attachments made during kittenhood.

But the feline brain can also absorb new date, such as how to use a cat flap or obtain food. Anatomically, the cat's brain is similar to that of any other mammal.

The cerebellum controls the muscles,thecerebrum governs learning, emotion, and behavior, and the brain stem connects to the nervous system. A network of cells called the limbic system is believed to integrate instinct and learning.

Conflict between what a cat instinctively wants to do and what learning impels it to do probably takes place here.