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Progress in Neurobiology paper

22.05.23 09:23 AM By Dimitris Pinotsis

Mind to molecules: brain waves tune the cytoskeleton

In a paper accepted in Progress in Neurobiology, we suggest that the electric fields generated by neurons are causal down to the level of the cytoskeleton. Brain waves and emerging electric fields contain information the brain is processing. This information propagates to the neuron level, affecting spiking, and down to molecular level to stabilize the cytoskeleton, “tuning” it to process information more efficiently. MIT piece here. Paper title and abstract below.

Cytoelectric Coupling: Electric fields sculpt neural activity and “tune” the brain’s infrastructure

We propose and present converging evidence for the Cytoelectric Coupling Hypothesis: Electric fields generated by neurons are causal down to the level of the cytoskeleton. This could be achieved via electrodiffusion and mechanotransduction and exchanges between electrical, potential and chemical energy. Ephaptic coupling organizes neural activity, forming neural ensembles at the macroscale level. This information propagates to the neuron level, affecting spiking, and down to molecular level to stabilize the cytoskeleton, “tuning” it to process information more efficiently.

Dimitris Pinotsis