POWER INCREASES WITHIN THE GAMMA RANGE OVER THE FRONTAL AND OCCIPITAL REGIONS DURING ACUTE EXPOSURES TO CEREBRALLY COUNTERCLOCKWISE ROTATING MAGNETIC FIELDS WITH SPECIFIC DERIVATIVES OF CHANGE

A Transmissive Theory of Brain Function: Implications for Health, Disease, and Consciousness

Identifying a complete, accurate model of brain function would allow neuroscientists and clinicians to make powerful neuropsychological predictions and diagnoses as well as develop more effective treatments to mitigate or reverse neuropathology. The productive model of brain function, which has been dominant in the field for centuries, cannot easily accommodate some higher-order neural processes associated with consciousness and other neuropsychological phenomena. However, in recent years, it has become increasingly evident that the brain is highly receptive to and readily emits electromagnetic (EM) fields and light. Indeed, brain tissues can generate endogenous, complex EM fields and ultraweak photon emissions (UPEs) within the visible and near-visible EM spectra. EM-based neural mechanisms, such as ephaptic coupling and non-visual optical brain signaling, expand canonical neural signaling modalities and are beginning to disrupt conventional models of brain function. Here, we present an evidence-based argument for the existence of brain processes that are caused by the transmission of extracerebral, EM signals and recommend experimental strategies with which to test the hypothesis. We argue for a synthesis of productive and transmissive models of brain function and discuss implications for the study of consciousness, brain health, and disease.

Functional neuroimaging of post-mortem tissue: lithium-pilocarpine seized rats express reduced brain mass and proportional reductions of left ventral cerebral theta spectral power

Structural imaging tools can be used to identify neuropathology in post-mortem tissue whereas functional imaging tools including quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) are thought to be restricted for use in living subjects. We are not aware of any study which has used electrophysiological methods decades after death to infer pathology. We therefore attempted to discriminate between chemically preserved brains which had incurred electrical seizures and those that did not using functional imaging. Our data indicate that modified QEEG technology involving needle electrodes embedded within chemically fixed neural tissue can be used to discriminate pathology. Forty (n = 40) rat brains preserved in ethanol-formalin-acetic acid (EFA) were probed by needle electrodes inserted into the dorsal and ventral components of the left and right cerebral hemispheres. Raw microvolt potentials were converted to spectral power densities within classical electroencephalographic frequency bands (1.5 Hz to 40 Hz). Brain mass differences were shown to scale with left hemispheric ventral theta-band spectral power densities in lithium-pilocarpine seized rats. This relationship was not observed in non-seized rats. A conspicuous absence of pathological indicators within dorsal regions as inferred by microvolt fluctuations was expected given the known localization of post-ictal damage in lithium-pilocarpine seized rats. Together, the data demonstrate that post-mortem neuroimaging is both possible and potentially useful as a means to identify neuropathology without structural imaging techniques or dissection.

Focal attenuation of specific electroencephalographic power over the right parahippocampal region during transcerebral copper screening in living subjects and hemispheric asymmetric voltages in fixed brain tissue

Covering the heads of human volunteers with a toque lined with copper mesh compared to no mesh resulted in significant diminishments in quantitative electroencephalographic power within theta and beta-gamma bands over the right caudal hemisphere. The effect was most evident in women compared to men. The significant attenuation of power was verified by LORETA (low resolution electromagnetic tomography) within the parahippocampal region of the right hemisphere. Direct measurements of frequency-dependent voltages of coronal section preserved in ethanol-formalin-acetic acid from our human brain collection revealed consistently elevated power (0.2μV(2)Hz(-1)) in right hemispheric structures compared to left. The discrepancy was most pronounced in the grey (cortical) matter of the right parahippocampal region. Probing the superficial convexities of the cerebrum in an unsectioned human brain demonstrated rostrocaudal differences in hemispheric spectral power density asymmetries, particularly over caudal and parahippocampal regions, which were altered as a function of the chemical and spatial contexts imposed upon the tissue. These results indicate that the heterogeneous response of the human cerebrum to covering of the head by a thin conductor could reflect an intrinsic structure and unique electrical property of the (entorhinal) cortices of the right caudal hemisphere that persists in fixed tissue.

Differential responsiveness of the right parahippocampal region to electrical stimulation in fixed human brains: Implications for historical surgical stimulation studies?

If structure dictates function within the living human brain, then the persistence of specific responses to weak electric currents in fixed, deceased brains could reflect "hardwired" properties. Different key structures from the left and right hemispheres of brains that had been fixed for over 20years with ethanol-formalin-acetic acid were stimulated with either 1-Hz, 7-Hz, 10-Hz, 20-Hz, or 30-Hz, sine-wave, square-wave, or pulsed currents while needle-recorded quantitative electroencephalographic responses were obtained. Differential responses occurred only within the right hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus. The right hippocampus displayed frequency-independent increases in gamma power relative to the left hemispheric homologue. The parahippocampal region responded exclusively to 7-Hz pulsed currents with wideband (8-30Hz) power. These profiles are consistent with dynamic connections associated with memory and consciousness and may partially explain the interactions resultant of pulse type and hemisphere for experiential elicitations during the golden age of surgical stimulations. The results also indicate that there may be an essential "hardwiring" within the human brain that is maintained for decades when it is fixed appropriately.

Brain electromagnetic activity and lightning: potentially congruent scale-invariant quantitative properties

The space-time characteristics of the axonal action potential are remarkably similar to the scaled equivalents of lightning. The energy and current densities from these transients within their respective volumes or cross-sectional areas are the same order of magnitude. Length–velocity ratios and temporal durations are nearly identical. There are similar chemical consequences such as the production of nitric oxide. Careful, quantitative examination of the characteristics of lightning may reveal analogous features of the action potential that could lead to a more accurate understanding of these powerful correlates of neurocognitive processes.

A THEORY OF NEUROPHYSICS AND QUANTUM NEUROSCIENCE: IMPLICATIONS FOR BRAIN FUNCTION AND THE LIMITS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The authors have assumed there are specific temporal patterns of complex electromagnetic fields that can access and affect all levels of brain space. The article presents formulae and results that might reveal the required field configurations to obtain this access and to represent these levels in human consciousness. The frequency for the transition from an imaginary to real solution for the four-dimensional human brain was the wavelength of hydrogen whereas the optimal distance in space was the width of a proton or electron. The time required to expand one Planck's length as inferred by Hubble's constant for the proton was about 1 to 3 ms, the optimal resonant "point duration" of our most bioeffective magnetic fields. Calculations indicated the volume of a proton is equivalent to a tube or string with the radius of Planck's length and the longitudinal length of m (the width of the universe). Solutions from this approach predicted the characteristics of many biological phenomena, seven more "dimensions" of space between Planck's length and the level of the proton, and an inflection point between increments of space and time that corresponded to the distances occupied by chemical bonds. The multiple congruencies of the solutions suggest that brain space could contain inordinately large amounts of information reflecting the nature of extraordinarily large increments of space and time.

Gamma, fast, and ultrafast waves of the brain: their relationships with epilepsy and behavior

Gamma waves, defined as rhythms from 25 to 100 Hz, are reviewed along with fast (100-400 Hz) and ultrafast (400-800 Hz) activity. Investigations on animals, especially those involving interneurons from the hippocampus, are reviewed. Gamma waves and fast rhythms likely play a role in neural communication, reflecting information from the external world to the brain. These rhythms become evident when the GABA-A system shifts from excitation to inhibition; are seen mainly in the hippocampus, the dentate gyrus, and CA(1)-CA(3) system; and are likely involved in long-term memory and cognitive task performance. These waves are also involved in spreading depression, but especially with epileptiform activity, progressively increasing in frequency from the pre-ictal to the ictal state. After status epilepticus, their presence predicts the development of spontaneous seizures. Gamma waves and fast activity have been studied in all sensory modalities, especially visual systems, providing a mechanism for awareness and processing of visual objects. In humans, gamma waves develop in the young, peak at 4-5 years of age, and are observed especially during alertness and after sensory stimulation. These fast rhythms are seen in the majority of seizures, especially in infantile spasms and during ictal activity in extratemporal and regional onsets, and, if low in amplitude, seem to be a good prognostic sign after seizure surgery. They have been studied in all sensory systems and are associated with selective attention, transient binding of cognitive features, and conscious perception of the external world.