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How real is the idea of pathways in the brain? Thinking about boxes linked by cords to other boxes reaffirms that idea for me, but I am confused when we talk about action potentials because on the neuron level everything starts to seem so random. The idea that not all action potentials translate into behavior, that it takes a lot of action potentials firing at the synapses of a neuron to have that neuron send out its own action potential. The idea that inhibitory and excitatory signals happen at the same rate makes sense, but it leaves me wondering still about the extent to which the movement of these action potentials is determined. How much are our brains wired to fire in a certain way? The idea that the function of regions of the brain can change in their purpose and that what action potentials become is where they end up leads me to think that the boxes and lines between boxes are very fluid, but I also think that there are pathways physically there. How are these formed? How do they work?