From membrane excitability to metazoan psychology

Cook, Norman D.; Carvalho, Gil B.; Damásio, António R.

doi:10.1016/j.tins.2014.07.011

Cited by 45 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…What is the relevance of AA for the analysis of other macroscopic measures? How do the NMDA-dependent intracellular mechanisms for contextual modulation evolve (Cook, Carvalho, & Damasio, 2014;Ryan et al, 2013;Shepherd, 2011)? How do they develop (Atkinson & Williams, 2009)?…”

Section: Questions For Further Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive functions of intracellular mechanisms for contextual amplification

Phillips

2017

Brain and Cognition

102

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Section: Questions For Further Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive functions of intracellular mechanisms for contextual amplification

Phillips

2017

Brain and Cognition

102

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“…This relationship among excitable cells, ion fluxes across their plasma membranes, and the physicochemical characteristics of the internal milieu in which they are embedded also provide the basis for an interesting and far-reaching theory recently proposed by Cook et al (2014). Indeed, these authors have suggested that 'the influx of positively charged ions during membrane excitability is the unique cellular phenomenon that underlies all aspects of animal psychology.'…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…In other words, Cook et al (2014) make the intriguing but logically congruent suggestion that the flow of positive charges into excitable cells is the basic phenomenon underlying cell sentience, which, at its lowest level, is therefore the detection of a potential physicochemical danger for cell survival. Furthermore, they hypothesize that awareness in multi-cellular organisms is an emergent phenomenon of the integration of the sentience of many cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The multi-facet aspects of cell sentience and their relevance for the integrative brain actions: role of membrane protein energy landscape

Agnati¹,

Marcoli

Maura

et al. 2016

Reviews in the Neurosciences

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AbstractSeveral ion channels can be randomly and spontaneously in an open state, allowing the exchange of ion fluxes between extracellular and intracellular environments. We propose that the random changes in the state of ion channels could be also due to proteins exploring their energy landscapes. Indeed, proteins can modify their steric conformation under the effects of the physicochemical parameters of the environments with which they are in contact, namely, the extracellular, intramembrane and intracellular environments. In particular, it is proposed that the random walk of proteins in their energy landscape is towards attractors that can favor the open or close condition of the ion channels and/or intrinsic activity of G-protein-coupled receptors. The main aspect of the present proposal is that some relevant physicochemical parameters of the environments (e.g. molecular composition, temperature, electrical fields) with which some signaling-involved plasma membrane proteins are in contact alter their conformations. In turn, these changes can modify their information handling via a modulatory action on their random walk towards suitable attractors of their energy landscape. Thus, spontaneous and/or signal-triggered electrical activities of neurons occur that can have emergent properties capable of influencing the integrative actions of brain networks. Against this background, Cook’s hypothesis on ‘cell sentience’ is developed by proposing that physicochemical parameters of the environments with which the plasma-membrane proteins of complex cellular networks are in contact fulfill a fundamental role in their spontaneous and/or signal-triggered activity. Furthermore, it is proposed that a specialized organelle, the primary cilium, which is present in most cells (also neurons and astrocytes), could be of peculiar importance to pick up chemical signals such as ions and transmitters and to detect physical signals such as pressure waves, thermal gradients, and local field potentials.

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“…Tsitolovsky mechanism can be considered as the most important manifestation of its health. Excitable membranes are found almost exclusively in animal organisms and the sudden reversal of the membrane potential during action potential generation is an electrostatic disturbance of homeostasis that is the first step in the processes of "sentience" (Cook, Carvalho, and Damasio 2014). Homeostasis is hardly algorithmically predetermined by the genetic apparatus.…”

Section: Homeostatic Control Of Viabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tsitolovsky single action potential in a single neuron may be responsible for the action of an entire animal (Sandler and Tsitolovsky 2008;Cook, Carvalho, and Damasio 2014). We have ascertained (Tsitolovsky and Guselnicov 1974;Tsitolovsky 1986) that after learning, neurons appear to evaluate the significance of the input signal (not only its strength), transiently change their own excitability and only later compare the magnitude of the impact and threshold.…”

Section: Neuron As a Living Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consciousness, endogenous generation of goals and homeostasis

Tsitolovsky

2015

International Journal of General Systems

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Behaviour can be both unpredictable and goal directed, as animals act in correspondence with their motivation. Motivation arises when neurons in specific brain areas leave the state of homeostatic equilibrium and are injured. The basic goal of organisms and living cells is to maintain their life and their functional state is optimal if it does not lead to physiological damage. This can somehow be sensed by neurons and the occurrence of damage elicits homeostatic protection to recover excitability and the ability to produces spikes. It can be argued that the neuron's activity is guided on the scale of "damage-protection" and it behaves as an object possessing minimum awareness. The approach of death increases cellular efforts to operate. Thus, homeostasis may evidently produce both maintenance of life and will. The question is -how does homeostasis reach the optimum? We have no possibility of determining how the cell evaluates its own states, e.g. as "too little free energy" or in terms of "threat" to life. In any case, the approach of death increases cellular efforts to operate. For the outside observer, this is reminiscent of intentional action and a manifestation of will.

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From membrane excitability to metazoan psychology

Cited by 45 publications

References 38 publications

Cognitive functions of intracellular mechanisms for contextual amplification

Cognitive functions of intracellular mechanisms for contextual amplification

The multi-facet aspects of cell sentience and their relevance for the integrative brain actions: role of membrane protein energy landscape

Consciousness, endogenous generation of goals and homeostasis

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