As I continue my research into interaction between the immaterial mind and the material components of the human brain, I occasionally post blogs that express speculation, as I did in my books. Neuroscience research is ongoing, and the articles published in mostly peer review journals also include speculations. It is my hope that speculations I post will stimulate critical thinking and direct efforts to clarify cognitive activity and how it interacts with the brain in dualist interaction.
Matthew S. Scarnati and his coauthors published an article in Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience in April, 2020 that addressed the function of presynaptic calcium channels and their relation to action potential waveforms. In previous blog posts I have addressed research that increasingly shows that cognition generates wave forms that interact with neural synaptic components, likely by way of quantum tunneling. This article refers to action potential wave forms and how both the depolarization and repolarization of ionic channels activate the passage of calcium ions that leads to the release of synaptic transmitters into synaptic clefts. I quote from the article, “Determining the change in open probability of presynaptic calcium channels and taking into account how local calcium concentration also changes throughout the action potential are both necessary to fully understand how the action potential triggers neurotransmitter release.”
My take away from this article coupled with others I have addressed in recent blogs leads me to the following speculation: Action potentials are wave forms with varying amplitudes, frequencies, durations and shapes as pointed out by the authors. The wave forms are specified and transmit neural codes within the spike trains. They impact the superposition of atomic components of molecular structures (electrons, hydrogen bonds) within ionic channels, and by quantum tunneling quasiparticles pass through voltage barriers to activate protein conformational changes that process calcium entry into synaptic terminals. It is a stochastic process, and the authors shared that the release probability is up to 25 percent of calcium channels that are rendered active at the end of action potential passage. The influx of calcium ions into presynaptic terminals leads to vesicle fusion with cleft membranes creating pores through which synaptic transmitters pass to stimulate excitatory postsynaptic action potentials. In a recent blog I discussed that quantum tunneling of quasiparticles is involved in this process that transmits wave forms along coherent synaptic networks to achieve specified actions.
My research will continue to seek confirmation of points made in this post. I seek explanations for dualist interaction between the immaterial mind of Man (and Mind of God) and the material components of the synaptic networks of the human brain involving a non-material energy. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in repentant mankind was restored by the sin sacrifice of Jesus Christ and provides His access to the human spirit and soul (mind, will, emotion). By the wonderful mechanisms created by God a personal bidirectional communion is possible with our Lord and Savior, as He intended at the Creation of Adam.