Electric and Magnetic Fields Inside Neurons and Their Impact Upon the Cytoskeletal Microtubules

Abstract

If we want to better understand how the microtubules can translate and input the information carried by the electrophysiologic impulses that enter the brain cortex, a detailed investigation of the local electromagnetic field structure is needed. In this paper are assessed the electric and the magnetic field strengths in different neuronal compartments. The calculated results are verified via experimental data comparison. It is shown that the magnetic field is too weak to input information to microtubules and no Hall effect, respectively QHE is realistic. Local magnetic flux density is less than 1 /300 of the Earth's magnetic field that's why any magnetic signal will be suffocated by the surrounding noise. In contrast the electric field carries biologically important information and acts upon voltage-gated transmembrane ion channels that control the neuronal action potential. If mind is linked to subneuronal processing of information in the brain microtubules then microtubule interaction with the local electric field, as input source of information is crucial. The intensity of the electric field is estimated to be 10V/m inside the neuronal cytoplasm however the details of the tubulin-electric field interaction are still unknown. A novel hypothesis stressing on the tubulin C-termini intraneuronal function is presented replacing the current flawed models (Tuszynski 2003, Mershin 2003, Porter 2003 The electric currents are relevant stimuli eliciting conscious experience like memorization of past events (Wilder Penfield, 1954a;1954b;1955) (2000) has helped a blind man to see again using electrodes implanted into his brain and connected to a tiny television camera mounted on a pair of glasses. Although he does not "see" in the conventional sense, he can make out the outlines of objects, large letters and numbers on a contrasting background, and can use the direct digital input to operate a computer. The man, identified only as Jerry, has been blind since age 36 after a blow to the head. Now 64, he volunteered for the study and got a brain implant in 1978. There has been no infection or rejection in the past 24 years. 7Scientists have been working since 1978 to develop and improve the software that enables Jerry to use the device as a primitive visual system. Jerry's "eye" consists of a tiny television camera and an ultrasonic distance sensor mounted on a pair of eyeglasses. Both devices communicate with a small computer, carried on his hip, which highlights the edges between light and dark areas in the camera image. It then tells an adjacent computer to send appropriate signals to an array of 68 small platinum electrodes on the surface of Jerry's brain, through wires entering his skull behind his right ear. The electrodes stimulate certain brain cells, making Jerry perceive dots of light, which are known as phosphenes.Jerry gets white phosphenes on a black background. With small numbers of phosphenes you have (the equivalent of) a time and temperature sign at a bank.As you get larger and larger numbers of phosphenes...

Neuronic system inside neurons: molecular biology and biophysics of neuronal microtubules

“…In previous publications (13)(14)(15) we have updated the mathematical model developed by Jibu and Yasue (16,17) and we were able to show that stable microtubules can convert local electric signals into conformational states of the projecting from the outer microtubule surface C-terminal tubulin tails. These negatively charged hairy projections were shown in vivo to attract positive ions from the cytosol thus forming a Debye layer that is why Hameroff and coworkers speculated that this layer is shielding/isolating the microtubules against environmental agitations (9).…”

“…Since no GTP pumping cycle is available in stable microtubules there should be found an alternative source to supply energy for the computation. Another important observation is that the calculated energy of 0.4 eV for electron hopping between α-and β-tubulin inside the hydrophobic tubulin dimer pocket is too high in order microtubules to be sensitive to the local electric field that reaches only 1-10 V/m along the neuronal projections Neuronic system inside neurons (13) and this is required if one conjectures that microtubules participate in the processing of information performed by the neurons.…”

Computational Algorithms Derived from Multiple Scales of Neocortical Processing

“…For example, the influence of neuron firing on astroglial calcium ions may be caused by movement of sodium and potassium ions in and out the body and axon of neurons. It should be noted that there are other mechanisms proposed, other than direct neuron-neuron interactions, to describe various aspects of neocortical information processing, e.g., soliton formation (Georgiev, 2003), and ephaptic excitation of neurons (Anastassiou et al,2011). There are manya pproaches in this "bottom-up" context, including quantum computation in microtubles (Hagan et al,2002), nonlinear systems approaches to neural processes (Rabinovich et al,2006), magnetic processes within astrocytes (Banaclocha, 2005;Banaclocha, 2007;Banaclocha, Bóokkon & Banaclocha, 2010), pulsating Ca 2+ wavesi na strocytes (Schipke et al,2 002;Scemes et al,2000;Goldberg et al,2010), neuron-astrocyte networks (Pereira & Furlan, 2009;Pereira & Furlan, 2010), including glutamate-specific Ca 2+ -induced signaling processes between neurons and astrocytes (Postnov et al,2 009), influences of blood flowo nn euronal processes (Moore & Cao, 2008), and mathematical formulations of qualia based on neural information processing (Balduzzi & Tononi, 2009).…”

“…There are manystudies on electric (Alexander et al,2006) and magnetic fields in neocortex (Murakami & Okada, 2006;McFadden, 2007;Irimia et al,2009;Georgiev, 2003). At the levelofasingle neuron, electric field strengths can be as high as about 10V/m for a summation of excitatory or inhibitory postsynaptic potentials as a neuron fires.…”

“…about 10µ 0 (Georgiev, 2003). Thus, the electromagnetic fields in neocortexd iffer substantially from those in vacuum, i.e., ε 0 µ 0 c 2 = 1 ( 18) where c is the speed of light.…”