Hm. This sounds very mysterious to me. Let's see if this works
any better:
*** LAYMAN'S TERM ALERT ***
Think of neurons as semipermeable membranes which are permeable to
positive ions in one direction and to negative ions in the other
direction. As soon as they are properly arranged and the temperature
is raised to where ions can move around, they start getting "pumped"
to opposite sides of the membranes. At some point, like the point at
which a spark jumps a gap, the difference in charges is enough that
the neurons "fire". Various neurons will fire in various places,
and soon, due to the physical properties of neurons (ion permeabilities,
chemical densities, synapse sizes, configurations of bumps on the ends
of axons and dendrites, etc.) the firings start to form patterns and
you're off and running (as it were).
Cheers,
Kennita
Kennita Watson | The bond that links your true family is not one of blood,
kwatson@netcom.com| but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do
| members of the same family grow up under the same roof.
| -- Richard Bach, _Illusions_