Online ISSN 2653-4983
JOURNAL of MULTISCALE NEUROSCIENCE
Is Alzheimer’s Disease a Manifestation of Brain Quantum Decoherence Resulting from
Mitochondrial and Microtubular Deterioration?
T.W. Nichols1, M.H. Berman1 and J.A. Tuszynski 2,3
1 Quietmind Foundation, Philadelphia, PA, USA
2 Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
3 DIMEAS, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
​
The etiology of Alzheimer's dementia is, at best multifactorial. Before the emergence of cognitive impairment, symptoms such as thinning of the cortex, accumulation of β-amyloid, and decreased hippocampal volume are common. Hence, the accumulation of β-amyloid and hyperphosphorylated tau fibrillary tangles are two pathological hallmarks in Alzheimer's disease brains, but antibody therapy aimed to decrease β-amyloid has been a failure and, in most optimistic opinions, may delay somewhat disease progression. However, 31-38 % of subjects develop cerebral micro-hemorrhages in aducanumab therapy, an antibody to the amyloid beta plaque by Biogen. Genetics such as Apo E3/E3 have demonstrated defects in the blood-brain barrier in early-onset dementia...more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Conductive polypyrrole/chitin conduit with electric stimulation for nerve regeneration
Haishan Jiao, Jian Huang, Ying Chen, Yuening Song, and Dongyin Li
​
PPy/chitin composite conduits (CAP) were fabricated by tube casting using chitosan blended with microemulsion polymerized nano-PPy, which was modified by acetylation. Chitin conduits (CA) modified by acetylation from chitosan conduits without PPy were also prepared. Both CAP and CA conduits were used to bridge sciatic nerve defects with or without ES. Autologous nerve transplantation was used as a positive control. Electrophysiological and histological methods were measured. We found that: (1) injured nerve bridged with conduit and ES had improved regeneration compared with that bridged with conduit without ES; and (2) conductive conduit combined with ES was more effective in promoting nerve regeneration compared with non-conductive conduit, but was similar to autologous nerve. Our findings demonstrate that conduits of PPy/chitin conductive composite exhibit favorable properties for clinical use by promoting nerve regeneration and functional recovery.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Spatiotemporal dynamics of intracellular calcium during speed tuning for directionality: the initial stage of cardinal direction selectivity
N.L. Iannella & R.R. Poznanski
Detecting moving objects is crucial in the animal kingdom and is fundamental to vision. In the vertebrate retina, starburst amacrine cells are directionally selective in terms of their calcium responses to stimuli that move centrifugally from the soma. The mechanism by which starburst amacrine cells show calcium bias for centrifugal motion is still to be determined. Recent morphological studies using fluorescent microscopy and immunostaining have shown that the endoplasmic reticulum is omnipresent in the soma, extending to the distal processes of starburst amacrine cells. Electron microscopy for ChAT SAC in adult rat retina unequivocally proves the presence of local endoplasmic reticulum. The submicron in diameter dendrites implies that the endoplasmic reticulum is not luminally connected between the soma and the distal tips. We construct a computational model of SAC dendrites with ER to simulate the Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR)-based calcium waves in the presence of unsaturated buffer to test the hypothesis that the CICR mechanism can sustain constant calcium wave propagation in the centrifugal direction. The veto mechanism with a 100msec delay for the operation of retinal direction selectivity is a working hypothesis, in which a CICR mechanism in the presence of local endoplasmic reticulum underlies speed tuning for directionality and propagation failure in the centripetal direction due to a build-up of calcium ...
​
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Neurobiological circuits of anxiety in ASD: Exploring the complexities
L. A, Cacha
​
ASD does not include anxiety as one of its core features, which has its own unique and additional level of complexity. The prevalence of anxiety disorder is not considered a core characteristic, yet majority of individuals with autism exhibit clinically elevated levels of anxiety or suffer from at least one anxiety disorder, including obsessive-compulsive disorder. An individual who is anxious is more likely to suffer from excessive negative emotions, which are indicative of potential dysfunctions within the brain systems responsible for regulating negative emotions. Anxiety is believed to have a neurobiological component, and considerable research has long been conducted to determine how its arousal impacts behavioral development in typical situations. Investigation has focused on the structural development of the amygdala implicated in the neurobiology of autism. An overview of the role of the prefrontal cortex in modulation of amygdala function is presented in this paper, as well how differences in amygdala and prefrontal cortex connectivity may play a role in influencing the presentation of anxiety syndrome in the context of autism spectrum disorder.
BRIEF REPORT
On the transition from a sense of self to actualizing an intention
R. R. Poznanski
Action potentials are a part of neural activity, but defining neural action is far more complex. Generalizing specific cognitive tasks as neural is ineffective. Instead, this paper focuses on individual factors such as intentions in action or consciousness in action. The hard question of consciousness arises from how the brain's biochemistry interacts with the electromagnetic field to facilitate energy transduction, enabling various forms of information to sustain self-referential causal closure. This has important implications, especially when intentions in action become intentions through a process that involves a transition from the experience of acting out a thought to actualizing intentions. This transition is particularly relevant to subjective intentionality, precognitive and unreliable in forming intentions without understanding the biochemical and biophysical foundations. We propose that negentropic force drives the transition from experience to intentions. Experience such as subjective intentionality is a quantum-optical effect actuated by electromagnetic “sparks” in benzene rings and proton transfer in hydrophobic pockets within protein pathways of the cortex. The intentions are sensed as feelings spontaneously, lacking a context for experiencing intentionality. This adds to the precognitive nature of consciousness in action, its lability, and its direct causal link to neural activities.
​
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
The inference on information-carrying elements in the process of consciousness
​Majid Beshkar
​
Consciousness is a precognitive process in that no observer can establish any correlation with (and hence obtain any information from) it. It is an entropy-minimization process associated with minimizing quantum entropy and exporting its effect on the underlying neuronal medium as information-carrying elements. This process may give rise to consciousness from a neuronal medium through inference on information-carrying elements.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Functional Outcomes After Spinal Cord Contusion Injury in Rats: The Influence of Age and Key Parameters
​Jonghoon Kang & Young S. Gwak
​
The complexity of sensory and motor dysfunctions following spinal cord injury (SCI) necessitates identifying key physical parameters that contribute to these outcomes. This study examines the effects of critical parameters on behavioral and physiological outcomes after spinal contusion in periadolescent (7 weeks) and adult (30 weeks) male Sprague-Dawley rats. A standardized injury of 150-kilodyne force and 1-second dwell time was induced at thoracic level 10. Actual Force (152.6 ± 0.6 and 154.4 ± 1.2 kdyn) and Velocity (121 ± 0.4 and 120.7 ± 0.6 mm/s) were consistent between groups, although Displacement (981.5 ± 35.9 and 1048.6 ± 30.4 µm) varied. The periadolescent group showed more rapid body weight loss (POD 4 vs. POD 7) and quicker locomotion recovery (POD 16 vs. POD 22), while the adult group exhibited faster onset of bladder dysfunction. By 40 days post-injury, all groups developed mechanical allodynia (p < 0.05), with thermal hyperalgesia significantly elevated in the periadolescent group (p < 0.05). Analysis of displacement subsets revealed that both Low and High displacement groups had similar levels of mechanical allodynia; however, the High displacement group experienced greater impairments in body
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
The Illusion of Intrinsic Meaning: Reassessing Conscious experience
Thomas W. Loker
The illusion of intrinsic meaning in predictive coding through cognitive artifacts to minimize prediction errors points toward a functionalist attempt at understanding conscious experience. It examines how conscious experience serves functional roles in predictive coding and symbolic cognition systems within the brain. By addressing recent developments in diverse fields like cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, and artificial intelligence, we argue that conscious experience emerges from the need to construct coherent narratives for survival and decision-making. Additionally, the paper explores the implications for artificial intelligence, suggesting that artificial systems could develop analogous cognitive artifacts through predictive models without subjective awareness, contributing to a functionalist understanding of consciousness, and further advancing the discussion on the nature of conscious experience in biological and artificial systems.