When we manifest in our everyday lives the fruit of the indwelling, or filling, of the Holy Spirit, we become Christlike, a process that takes time and reflects sanctification. What ARE the fruits of the Spirit? They are:

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Spiritual power is the “consistent exhibition of the characteristics of the Lord Jesus in the believer’s life. And this is the activity of the Holy Spirit, of whom the Lord Jesus said, ‘He shall glorify me’. . . . The way to spiritual power is to be filled with the Spirit, which simply means to be controlled by the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).” [Ryrie]

In Chapter Four of my second book, The Boundless Love of God: A Holy Spirit Story, pages 31-32, I include discussions of the baptism, filling and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is helpful to understand the distinguishing features of these three terms.

Ryrie addressed spiritual power in the Christian as follows: “A Christian is one who has received Jesus Christ; a spiritual Christian is one who displays Christ living through his life, and this is accomplished by the work of the indwelling [italics added] Holy Spirit. Spirituality, then, is Christlikeness that is produced by the fruit of the Spirit.”

MOST OF MY BLOGS TO DATE HAVE EXPANDED ON WHAT I SHARED IN THE CHAPTERS OF MY BOOKS THAT DEALT WITH NEUROSCIENCE AND INFORMATION THEORY AND THE APPLICATION TO DUALIST INTERACTION. MY RESEARCH GOES ON, THOUGH FINDING APPLICABLE ARTICLES TO MY HYPOTHESIS AND PERSPECTIVES WILL CONTINUE TO BE DIFFICULT BECAUSE OF THE STILL DOMINANT PERSPECTIVE OF REDUCTIVE MATERIALISM IN NEUROSCIENCE.

A HOLY SPIRIT STORY WAS SHARED IN MY SECOND BOOK, THE BOUNDLESS LOVE OF GOD: A HOLY SPIRIT STORY. THERE REMAINS MUCH IGNORANCE IN THE CHURCH ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND SOME DENY THAT WE HEAR FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT IN OUR TIME, THOUGH WE CAN PRAY TO HIM. IN THE NEXT BLOGS I WILL FOCUS ON THE HOLY SPIRIT AND DERIVE MUCH OF WHAT I SHARE FROM TWO BOOKS: GORDON D. FEE, PAUL, THE SPIRIT, AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD, 1996, HENDRICKSON PUBLISHERS, INC, PEABODY, MASS., AND CHARLES C. RYRIE, THE HOLY SPIRIT, REVISED AND EXPANDED, 1997, MOODY PRESS, CHICAGO, ILL.

IT IS MY HOPE THAT I HAVE PRESENTED COMPELLING EVIDENCE IN MY BOOKS AND BLOGS FOR DUALIST INTERACTION BETWEEN THE IMMATERIAL MIND OF GOD AND THE MIND OF MAN VIA THE SYNAPTIC NETWORKS OF THE MATERIAL HUMAN BRAIN. KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS INTERACTION IS A REALITY AS WE CONSIDER THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE DOCTRINE AND THE TRUE PERSONALITY AND PLAN OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. MAN’S INDWELLING BY HIM HAS BEEN RESTORED IN OUR REPENTANCE BY THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST WHO SENT THE HOLY SPIRIT AS HE PROMISED WHEN HE AROSE TO SIT AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER. THE INDWELLING AND FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL BE ADDRESSED.

I am posting verses from Romans 11: 33-36 that were included at the end of my book, The Boundless Love of God: A Holy Spirit Story. Yes, we are learning much from advances in the neurosciences, providing confirmation of dualist interaction between the Mind of God and the mind of Man and perhaps how that works with wave forms at the level of pyramidal modules of the cerebral cortex and the consequent transmission of encoded spike trains through neural synaptic networks. But our God is so much more majestic and powerful, and we are humbled as we seek His Truth.

Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has first given to God, that God needs to repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.

Thank you for your attention to my blogs that expand on the contents of my books. I will continue my research through the available neuroscience literature, though my posts will be less frequent. I pray that I have provided to date and in future posts a means to increase your faith in the fact that our Creator God, by his grace through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, desires to have an intimate, two-way personal communion with us as members of his Kingdom, now and forever more.

Spruston discusses the very complex properties of apical and basal dendrites. Dendritic spikes include both calcium and sodium spikes activated at the ionic channels for these two ions by synaptic input. How the postulated wave forms generated by the cognitive mind may interact with the components of ionic channels, likely involving quantum tunneling, to generate these spikes is an unanswered question. “Once initiated, dendritic spikes propagate towards the soma where, in some cases, they can initiate an action potential. . . . [Spruston points out that] dendritic spikes do not propagate reliably from the apical tuft into the main apical dendrite,” propagation depending upon whether a ‘gate’ is opened or closed that governs the influence of distally generated dendritic spikes on axonal action-potential initiation.”

So we see that the function of apical tufts remains under study and that spike generation in dendrites and axons is most complex. Initiation of spikes in ionic channels and synapses by cognition is not ruled out. Spruston concludes with the statement that the answering of questions about dendritic function “will move [us] closer to a detailed understanding of the complex and dynamic function of pyramidal neurons, a crucial key to unlocking the mysteries of cortical function.”

I conclude my discussion of this aspect of cognition. My intent has been to show how progress in neuroscience is being made to shed light on an understanding of dualist interaction between the immaterial mind and the brain. There is much yet to learn, but I am confident that findings will reveal concordance between Scripture and science, so that our faith that the Holy Spirit communes with us in our time is strengthened.

I now return to the article by Spruston to focus on a possible role for apical pyramidal cell tufts in the cognitive activity of the immaterial mind. I am posting excerpts from his article along with my comments, primarily reflecting posts I have made in previous blogs and in my books.

“Pyramidal neurons are abundant in the cerebral cortex . . . they are found primarily in structures that are associated with advanced cognitive functions. . . . Critical to the function of each pyramidal neuron is how it responds to its synaptic inputs to produce an action potential that excites its postsynaptic targets. . . . All pyramidal neurons have several relatively short basal dendrites. Usually, one large apical dendrite connects the soma (cell body) to a tuft of dendrites. . . . [there is] some evidence [that] supports the division of pyramidal cell dendritic trees into . . . domains, which correspond to regions that receive distinct synaptic inputs and/or have synapses with distinct properties. . . . it is reasonable to postulate that pyramidal neurons with different structural features are also likely to differ functionally. . . . inputs to the main apical dendrite and the oblique apical dendrites might be integrated differently, but it is not known whether synaptic inputs to these domains are identical or different.”

Hence, it is acceptable for me to offer a postulate on how wave forms generated by cognition interact with the pyramidal tufts and their numerous spines to stimulate changes in the microstructures of ionic channels to initiate dendritic spikes. This action could involve quantum tunneling as we have seen with the transmission of wave forms through potential barriers at neural synapses to initiate spike trains of action potentials that transmit specified codes. Just where, I am asking, would wave forms generated by the immaterial mind act? In subsequent blogs I will address the statements of Sir John C. Eccles that are prescient in this regard. Let us read on.

“Pyramidal neurons are covered with thousands of dendritic spines that constitute the postsynaptic site for most excitatory glutamatergic synapses. . . . The function of dendritic spines remains enigmatic. . . . Spines vary considerably in their size and shape and are highly plastic [so that they may be functional in memory and learning].”

I have discussed in my books and several blogs how the immaterial mind “learns” to interpret neural codes over a lifetime as well as generates their formation within spike trains of action potentials. Neural codes are archived in memory and accessed by the mind to effect desired actions with purpose and meaning. An example I have discussed in my books is the supplementary motor area, where neural codes for various motor actions are archived in the so-called liaison brain described by Eccles.

When dendritic spines are stimulated by incoming wave forms they “exert significant influence over action-potential initiation through the activation of dendritic voltage-gated channels, which can enhance charge entry at distal synapses and might even lead to dendritic spike initiation. Several observations suggest that synapses at different dendritic locations are specialized to perform different functions . . . The apical tuft also has a relatively large number of [spine] synapses on the dendritic shaft. These differences suggest that these various dendritic regions receive synaptic inputs that have distinctive properties.” [The author does not address cognitive function and its potential application to this process.]

In my next blog I will continue to draw upon Spruston’s article, focusing on the process of dendritic excitability and coincidence detection, leading to the discussions by Eccles that are prescient in this context.

I am posting below comments from Spratling’s article addressing the role of attention (by the cognitive mind) in information processing. It must be recalled that information is only generated by a mind (matter cannot generate information), and all information that is transmitted must be encoded (within neural codes to which my books and blogs have spoken).

“Attention is a top-down process that operates via cortical feedback projections. . . . Attention modulates the sensory-driven activation of cells, . . . such that activity in response to an attended stimulus is increased in amplitude and duration. . . . increased attention has effects similar to increasing the contrast or saliency of the stimulus. . . . In the absence of a stimulus, attention increases the rate of spontaneous firing (the author makes no mention of the causal effects of a cognitive mind, and I have shared in my more recent blogs that attention, intent and will likely generate wave forms with amplitude, frequency and phase that can tunnel through voltage barriers of ionic channels and synaptic components to increase ‘the rate of spontaneous firing’ in neural networks) . . . . attention is used to multiplicatively modulate the synaptic strengths of intra-cortical connections so that attended information can be selectively routed to higher cortical regions. . . . modulatory affects could also be achieved by employing neurons that have two functionally distinct dendrites (apical and basal dendrites).”

I continue with this author’s comments that address the complex feedforward and feedback activities that are known to operate in information transmission through interconnected neural networks. Cognition involves such interconnectedness in a top-down fashion. Stimulation and inhibition both operate within and between neural cortical modules to strengthen and direct the transmission of spike train trajectories through selected neural networks, a process that involves synchronization and entrainment as discussed in my recent blogs. I have proposed that linguistically encoded wave forms generated by the mind (e.g. attention) gain direction through neural networks to bring about specific activities (e.g. moving an arm) by entraining modular wave forms whose amplitudes, frequencies and phases are in synchrony with them, establishing coherent wave forms that transmit specified information through neural synaptic networks. The question that is being considered is how apical pyramidal tufts relate to this process. Note in the following excerpt how words (italicized) are used that reflect the cognitive activity of a mind!

“Feedback modulates activity generated by feedforward processing. such modulation may play a role in tasks such as recall, priming and attention. . . . by influencing activation each dendrite can affect learning in a biologically plausible manner. Neurons are likely to learn correlations between the separate information streams targeting the apical and basal dendrites. Apical inputs can therefore influence learning at the basal dendrite and may be considered a source of reinforcement or supervision. This interpretation is bolstered by the fact that the apical dendrites in layer I not only receive projections from other cortical regions but are also targeted by the limbic system; a widely projecting set of interconnected brain structures concerned with emotion and memory.” I offer that the neurons of the material brain cannot do all these functions! It is the mind that accomplishes correlations, interpretations, supervision, recall and learning. Memories are recalled from archived neural codes situated within the liaison brain (e.g. supplementary motor area) discussed in my books.

In my next blog I will return to the article by Spruston and consider in more detail the possible role of pyramidal apical tufts in cognition. Read on.

I pause here to remind readers the reason for my books and blogs, taken from 2 Peter 1:21:

For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Dualist interaction between the Mind of God and the mind of Man is two-way. We pray to and we also hear from God via the Holy Spirit who desires an intimate, personal communion with us in repentance by the grace of God through his Son, Jesus Christ, resurrected and living as our Helper and Counselor.

As I begin this series of blogs some definitions are in order. I will be focusing on a specific part of pyramidal neurons, the dendrites and their apical tufts. The information I am sharing is extracted from two articles, the first: M. W. Spratling, “Cortical Region Interactions and the Role of Apical Dendrites,” Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 1(3): 219-228, 2002, and the second: Nelson Spruston, “Pyramical Neurons: Dendritic Structure and Synaptic Integration,” Nature Reviews: Neuroscience, Vol. 9, March 2008, 206-221.

The cerebral cortex consists of a laminar structure of six layers. The cell bodies of pyramidal cells, the most abundant type of cortical neuron, are found in layers II-VI and have distinct morphologies, including two separate dendritic arbors: the basal dendrites which occupy the same layer as the cell body and the apical dendrites which ascend into more superficial layers. For pyramidal cells in layer VI the apical dendrites extend to layer IV, and for pyramidal cells in the other layers the apical dendrites extend to layer I where they are quite dense. Pyramidal cells consist of the only neurons that project outside the cortex “and [are] the primary source of connections between different cortical areas. This class of cell is thus likely to have a major role in cortical information processing.” (I remind the reader that information can only be generated by a mind, discussed in detail in previous blogs and in my books.)

Both the apical and basal dendrites receive connections with axons originating in different cortical areas. They are rich in dendritic spines that project from the dendritic body and along its length to make connections with boutons, specialized pre-synaptic structures at the ends of axons. Between the bouton and the spine is a very narrow synaptic cleft across which neural transmitters flow to generate action potentials transmitted through synaptic networks. Spines are highly variable in their size and shape and are plastic, changing with experience. “It has been suggested that thin, dynamic spines might be available to contribute to learning, whereas larger, more stable spines might be involved in the storage of established memories. Repeated activation of small spines leads to increase in their size by the Hebbian process discussed in my books.

Spruston describes pyramidal neurons as having basal and apical dendrites along with apical tufts. In my research I wonder if the wave forms that appear to be generated by cognition of the immaterial mind interact with the spines of apical dendrites within the apical tufts? Does this interaction occur at ionic channels in the tufts and/or in the specialized, pre-synaptic structures? Are axons involved? What is the result of the proposed interaction, and how are spike trains of action potentials generated that are transmitted through synaptic channels to bring about intended action? As this discussion proceeds I shall address these questions in relation to my postulate that apical tufts are sites for interaction with the immaterial mind.

My discussion that follows will focus on the basics of apical dendritic function which is markedly complex. The two articles to which I am making reference discuss this function in more detail. My focus is to address only one aspect of its function in relation to cognitive activity within the cerebral cortex, giving expression to related points made in earlier blogs in this context. Each blog that follows in this series will be entitled, “Apical tufts in cognition, part 1, 2, etc.” I invite the reader to brainstorm along with me as I make the case for dualist interaction!

In my succeeding blogs I will post excerpts from and my discussions in response to recent neuroscience articles that address the apical and distal tufts of the pyramidal cells of the neocortex. I offer a postulate that suggests how the proposed wave forms generated by the cognitive mind interact directly with these structures to actualize the mind’s intention for action, whether it be the movement of an extremity, a creative thought or a spoken word, even from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit may be offering us an explanation of this interaction, a manifestation of his progressive revelation so that we can come to a personal, intimate communion with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. These articles are hard to come by! Where knowledge is expressly lacking by the neuroscientists to explain the function of these tufts one has the opportunity to propose explanations that can be tested to grow our knowledge and faith. It is all about confirming concordance between Scripture and neuroscience. Please read on.