Quantum Model for Nerve Pulse and EEG

Abstract

In this article a unified model of nerve pulse and EEG is discussed.


a) In TGD Universe the function of EEG and its variants is to make possible communications from the cell membrane to the magnetic body and the control of the biological body by the magnetic body via magnetic flux sheets traversing DNA by inducing gene expression. This leads to the notions of super- and hyper-genome predicting coherent gene expression at level of organs and population.

b) The assignment the predicted ranged classical weak and color gauge fields to dark matter hierarchy was a crucial step in the evolution of the model, and led among other things to a model of high T_c superconductivity predicting the basic scales of cell, and also to a generalization of EXG to a hierarchy of ZXGs, WXGs, and GXGs corresponding to Z^0, W bosons and gluons.

c) Dark matter hierarchy and the associated hierarchy of Planck constants plays a key role in the model. For instance, in the case of EEG Planck constant must be so large that the energies of dark EEG photons are above thermal energy at physiological temperatures. The assumption that a considerable fraction of the ionic currents through the cell membrane are dark currents flowing along the magnetic flux tubes explains the strange findings about ionic currents through cell membrane. Concerning the model of nerve pulse generation, the newest input comes from the model of DNA as a topological quantum computer and experimental findings challenging Hodgkin-Huxley model as even approximate description of the situation.

d) The identification of the cell interior as gel phase containing most of water as structured water around cytoskeleton - rather than water containing bio-molecules as solutes as assumed in Hodkin-Huxley model - allows to understand many of the anomalous behaviors associated with the cell membrane and also the different densities of ions in the interior and exterior of cell at qualitative level. The proposal of Pollack that basic biological functions involve phase transitions of gel phase generalizes in TGD framework to a proposal that these phase transitions are induced by quantum phase transitions changing the value of Planck constant. In particular, gel-sol phase transition for the peripheral cytoskeleton induced by the primary wave would accompany nerve pulse propagation. This view about nerve pulse is not consistent with Hodkin-Huxley model.


The model leads to the following picture about nerve pulse and EEG.



a) The system would consist of two superconductors- microtubule space-time sheet and the space-time sheet in cell exterior- connected by Josephson junctions represented by magnetic flux tubes defining also braiding
in the model of tqc. The phase difference between two super-conductors would obey Sine-Gordon equation allowing both standing and propagating solitonic solutions. A sequence of rotating gravitational penduli coupled to each other would be the mechanical analog for the system. Soliton sequences having as a mechanical analog penduli rotating with constant velocity but with a constant phase difference between them would generate moving kHz synchronous oscillation. Periodic boundary conditions at the ends of the axon rather than chemistry determine the propagation velocities of kHz waves and kHz synchrony is an automatic consequence since the times taken by the pulses to travel along the axon are multiples of same time unit. Also moving oscillations in EEG range can be considered and would require larger value of Planck constant in accordance with vision about evolution as gradual increase of Planck constant.


c) During nerve pulse one pendulum would be kicked so that it would start to oscillate instead of rotating and this oscillation pattern would move with the velocity of kHz soliton sequence. The velocity of kHz wave and nerve pulse is fixed by periodic boundary conditions at the ends of the axon implying that the time spent by the nerve pulse in traveling along axon is always a multiple of the same unit: this implies kHz synchrony. The model predicts the value of Planck constant for the magnetic flux tubes associated with Josephson junctions and the predicted force caused by the ionic Josephson currents is of correct order of magnitude for reasonable values of the densities of ions. The model predicts kHz em radiation as Josephson radiation generated by moving soliton sequences. EEG would also correspond to Josephson radiation: it could be generated either by moving or standing soliton sequences (latter are naturally assignable to neuronal cell bodies for which \hbar should be correspondingly larger): synchrony is predicted also now.