Thinking about the type of inputs lets us narrow the numbers down a bit. Remember, the inputs at some gaps cause the neuron’s voltage to go down, not up. They inhibit the neuron, making it less likely to birth a spike. So we are really asking about how many of the inputs that excite the neuron we need to make a spike. Braitenberg and Schuz painstakingly counted those too—dedicated, admirable scientists, but ones who’d monologue at you for three hours on the best way to slice a mouse brain into wafer-thin bits and count its synapses with nary a pause to sip the steadily warming beer on the
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