Influence of macrocolumnar EEG on Ca waves

A “smoking gun” for explicit top-down neocortical mechanisms that directly drive bottom-up processes that describe memory, attention, etc. The top-down mechanism considered are macrocolumnar EEG firings in neocortex, as described by a statistical mechanics of neocortical interactions (SMNI), developed as a magnetic vector potential A. The bottom-up process considered are Ca2+ waves prominent in synaptic and extracellar processes that are considered to greatly influence neuronal firings. Here, the complimentary effects are considered, i.e., the influence of A on Ca2+ momentum, p. The canonical momentum of a charged particle in an electromagnetic field, Π = p + qA (SI units), is calculated, where the charge of Ca2+ is q = 2e, e is the magnitude of the charge of an electron, valid in both classical and quantum mechanics. It is shown that A is large enough to influence p. This suggests that, instead of the common assumption that Ca2+ waves contribute to neuronal activity, they may in fact at times be caused by the influence of A of larger-scale EEG. PA CS: 05.10.Gg, 87.19.-j, 87.19.L-, 87.50.yg Ke ywords: short-term memory, astrocytes, neocortical dynamics, vector potential Most recent drafts are available as http://www.ingber.com/smni12_vectpot.pdf $Id: smni12_vectpot,v 1.56 2012/07/22 22:52:58 ingber Exp ingber $ Influence of macrocolumnar EEG on Ca wav es 2 Lester Ingber 1. Smoking Gun for Top-Down Processes There is a growing awareness of the importance of multiple scales in many physical and biological systems, including neuroscience (Nunez, Srinivasan & Ingber, 2012). As yet, there does not seem to be any “smoking gun” for explicit top-down mechanisms that directly drive bottom-up processes that describe memory, attention, etc. Of course, there are many top-down type studies demonstrating that neuromodulator (Silberstein, 1995) and neuronal firing states, e.g., as defined by EEG frequencies, can modify the milieu or context of individual synaptic and neuronal activity, which is still consistent with ultimate bottom-up paradigms. However, there is a logical difference between top-down milieu as conditioned by some prior external or internal conditions, and some direct top-down processes that direct cause bottom-up interactions specific to STM. Here, the operative word is “cause”. 1.1. Magnetism Influences in Living Systems There is a body of evidence that suggests a specific top-down mechanism for neocortical STM processing. An example of a direct physical mechanism that affects neuronal processing not part of “standard” sensory influences is the strong possibility of magnetic influences in birds at quantum levels of interaction (Kominis, 2009; Rodgers & Hore, 2009; Solov’yov & Schulten, 2009). It should be noted that this is just a proposed mechanism (Johnsen & Lohmann, 2008). The strengths of magnetic fields in neocortex may be at a threshold to directly influence synaptic interactions with astrocytes, as proposed for long-term memory (LTM) (Gordon et al, 2009) and shortterm memory (STM) (Banaclocha, 2007; Pereira & Furlan, 2010) Magnetic strengths associated by collective EEG activity at a columnar level giv es rise to even stronger magnetic fields. Columnar excitatory and inhibitory processes largely take place in different neocortical laminae, providing possibilities for more specific mechanisms.