I have discussed traveling waves in previous posts and want to present information from an article by simon makin entitled “‘traveling’ waves may be critical for cognition.” This presentation is a prelude to a much more recent article I will soon discuss that shows the significance of traveling waves in cognition.

makin states that “many neuroscientists have assumed that if brain waves do anything, it is by oscillating in synchrony in different locations [a topic i have also addressed]. yet a growing body of research suggests many brain waves are actually ‘traveling waves’ that physically move through the brain like waves on the sea. now a new study from a team at columbia university led by neuroscientist joshua jacobs suggests traveling waves are widespread in the human cortex - the seat of higher cognitive functions - and that they become more organized depending on how well the brain is performing a task. this shows the waves are relevant to behavior, bolstering previous research suggesting they are an important but overlooked brain mechanism that contributes to memory, perception, attention and even consciousness [functions of an immaterial mind]. . . . jacobs . . . thinks the waves propagate information,” for example in working memory. stand by for my upcoming blog that will discuss the recent work in 2021 of vishnu sreekumar and coworkers.

An article presented in Science on October 13, 2022 entitled “In Vivo Direct Imaging of Neuronal Activity at High Temporospatial Resolution” has exciting implications for understanding neural transmissions. Phan Tan Toi and coworkers applied “a two-dimensional fast line-scan approach in mice that enables direct imaging of neuronal activity with millisecond precision while retaining the high spatial resolution of magnetic resonance imaging . . . spike recording and optogenetics confirmed the high correlation of the observed MRI signal with neural activity” resulting from electrical whisker-pad stimulation. Their method also “captured the propagation of neuronal activity along the thalamocortical pathway.” the detection of sequential propagation of neuronal activity through functionally defined networks is thus considered possible by the authors.

AS this methodology is developed and applied, it may be possible in the future to track neural transmission in response to the cognitive activity of intent and will and perception, confirming dualist interaction between the immaterial mind and the material synaptic networks of the brain. As I scan the neuroscience literature, I will post such studies if found on my blog site.

Patrick Suppes and coworkers at the University of Southern California authored an article in 1997 entitled “Brain Wave Recognition of Words.” In many of my previous blog posts I have shared that cognition generates wave forms that transmit specified information through synaptic networks that the immaterial mind interprets. This article provides some early confirmation of this activity whereby the mind interacts with the material synaptic networks.

The methodology of these investigators involved recording electrical and magnetic brain waves of subjects “for the purpose of recognizing which one of seven words was processed.” Their results showed “that brain waves carry substantial information about the word being processed under experimental conditions of conscious awareness. . . . the relevant cognitive processing uses in an essential way time-varying populations of neurons.”

In my more recent blogs I have shared that linguistic, specified information is instantiated within wave forms transmitted by spike trains of action potentials with amplitude, frequency and shape and facilitated by quantum tunneling across synapses. It is a most complex process which is being increasingly documented by neuroscientists who are open to the interpretation of dualist interaction.

I have devoted much time studying the means by which the Holy Spirit communes with the mind of repentant mankind in our time, a process restored to fallen mankind by the sin sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross and sent as He promised upon His resurrection. I have learned that wave forms are generated by cognition that are transmitted through neural synaptic networks. Wave forms carry specified information within encoded spike trains of action potentials that is transmitted across neural synapses facilitated by quantum tunneling. Because this mechanism was created by God to make personal communion between people possible, it is conceivable that the mechanism is used by the indwelling Holy Spirit to provide Counsel to the mind of people who seek it. It is a process of dualist interaction between the immaterial Mind of the Holy Spirit and the mind of Man and the material components of the brain’s synaptic networks.

I came across an article by Dr. Brad Long entitled “The Four Great Waves of the Holy Spirit,” published January 23, 2020 (https://www.prmi.org/the-four-great-waves-of-the-holy-spirit). He opens his article with “The Father’s master strategy for extending the Gospel to all nations and people on earth began with wave upon wave of the Holy Spirit to advance the Kingdom of God to all humanity. . . . “ In Acts 1:8 He states, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Dr. Long continues, “Beginning with Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has worked in successive waves or pulses to advance the Kingdom of God. . . .These pulsations of the Holy Spirit are the pattern of God’s working in the book of Acts. . . .This establishes the reality that while the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was an initial event, it was not to be seen as a single unique event, but rather the beginning of a pattern extending until the return of the King. This also clarifies this usage of ‘filled with the Holy Spirit; as having the same meaning as the ‘Holy Spirit falling upon people for power.’ . . . These waves . . . advance the Kingdom of God by bringing people into the purposes of God, empowering and equipping them to fulfill these purposes.”

I find it interesting that Dr. Long identifies the action of the Holy Spirit as waves. Perhaps we are learning at least in part how the communion between the Holy Spirit and the spirit and soul of mankind occurs, thanks to advances being made in the neurosciences that show concordance between scientific findings and Scripture.

I conclude these posts from Dr. Jon Lieff’s article with his following stimulating comments:

Brain waves when they arrive at distant locations can have very different interactions and effects based on the local anatomy and physiology. These processes occur in milliseconds, far faster than any available imaging. Brain mapping will need to include these dimensions to get anywhere in understanding the brain’s relation to mental events. But the most important question is often ignored. Where is the direction for all of this? There is no known center directing this fantastically complex circuitry (changing each millisecond), the neuronal action potential rhythms, and the many different brain wave frequencies. Even more complex is the coupling and uncoupling of different frequencies communicating information between local and global regions and the neuro modulation that alters brain waves in specific regions. With no center in this four dimensional complexity, isn’t the best explanation mind interacting with each molecule, each cell and each brain region [Italics added].

These comments amplify those I have made concerning dualist interaction between the immaterial mind, including the Mind of God/Holy Spirit, and the material synaptic networks of the human brain. I thank Dr. Lieff for his article.

I have discussed columns of neurons in the context of cerebral modules in my books and related blog posts. Dr. Lieff addresses them in his article:

“Columns of cells, or multiple related columns, are a frequent anatomic brain structure, such as in the cortex. In these columns, the dynamic node includes proximity to other structures, but, also, individual and group behavior of neurons, electric currents, and alterations that occur with factors that modulate neurons. These dynamic relationships between neurons and regions of neurons can change in an instant, with one neuron participating in two totally different brain-wide neuroplastic circuits in milliseconds. [By what mechanism do these instant changes happen? Read on.]

“. . . Some slow and fast waves can work together through a process called coupling [I have discussed this relationship in my writings]. By coupling, many different brain regions can communicate together at the same time using multiple different frequencies. Coupling is a complex process where one rhythm nests within another and is carried along with it. Cross frequency coupling occurs when slower and faster frequencies work together - faster somehow nested inside the slower rhythms. . . . In the cortex, slow theta waves in the range of 5 to 8 Hz couple with much faster gamma waves and modulate the powerful gamma messages that appear to link distant brain regions. These long-range connections have raised the question whether gamma waves are part of the process that brings together all the disparate parts of conscious experience. . . . many of the brain’s neurons have multi sensory inputs and connections to multiple modalities. Precise rhythms are critical in the brain’s ability to differentiate and use multi modal inputs. For any task, many different brain regions are active and integrated through both multiple synapses and multiple brain waves. Networks use specific frequencies to tie information and neuronal groups together.”

“. . . Brain waves when they arrive at distant locations can have very different interactions and effects based on the local anatomy and physiology. These processes occur in milliseconds, far faster than any available imaging.”

In the last post taken from this article I will include Dr. Lieff’s challenging and insightful proposal!

I will be posting selected excerpts from an article by Jon Lieff, M.D. entitled “Neuronal Networks and Brain Waves” (http://jonlieffmd.com/blog/neuronal-networks-brain-waves). In my latest blogs I have addressed the role of wave forms and quantum tunneling in dualist interaction between the immaterial mind and the synaptic networks of the human brain. Lieff’s article is informative and touches on some of the points I have made in my books and certain blog posts. It is my hope that the reader will obtain a better understanding of the complexity and remarkable design of the synaptic networks that make the transmission of linguistic codes possible in cognition.

“Along with 80 billion neurons and 800 trillion constantly changing connections, individual neurons use very precise rhythms and groups of neurons oscillating together in very specific frequencies. The perplexing relationship of neuronal networks and brain waves is critical to future understanding of the brain.” Lieff identifies “. . . daily changes of axons, dendrites and synapses; thousands of different kinds of neurons; thousands of different kinds of post synaptic densities; glial cell networks; and electrical synapses.” He has “. . . discussed whether the network patterns of the neuronal connections could explain the workings of the mind. . . . But perhaps the greatest difficulty in understanding how the brain functions is describing the precise mechanisms that allow rhythms and waves to interact constantly with the changing anatomy of the synaptic connections.

“The changing dynamics of wide ranging neuronal circuits occurs throughout the brain in milliseconds at the level of individual neurons and groups of neurons. Neurons join a circuit one moment and another the next moment. Groups of neurons fire action potentials in very specific rhythms that rapidly change. Groups of neurons produce brain waves - synchronous oscillations - that communicate information from one section of the brain to another. Synchronous brain waves couple with other frequencies to connect multiple regions.”

In my next blog post I will continue with excerpts from Lieff’s excellent article. I recommend its reading to you.

I conclude posts from this chapter with the following excerpts. I recommend reviewing this work to come to an understanding of how substance dualism applies to dualist interactionism. What I am posting now complements much of what I have shared in my books and blogs. These excerpts are included since they identify the focus of my own research over the last 20 plus years.

“For anything to cause a physical object to move, or cause any change in one, there must be a flow of energy or transfer of momentum, from the cause to the physical object. But how could there be an energy flow from an immaterial mind to a material thing? What kind of energy could it be? . . . . Could there be causal interactions among immaterial substances? Ruling out mind-body causal interaction does not in itself rule out the possibility of a causally autonomous domain of immaterial minds in which minds are in causal commerce with other minds. Perhaps that is the picture of a purely spiritual afterlife envisioned in some religions and theologies. . . . is there anything in principle wrong with locating immaterial minds in physical space and thereby making it possible for them to participate in the causal transactions of the world? . . . . It is not surprising that substance dualism has not been a prominent alternative in contemporary philosophy of mind. But there is no call to exclude it a priori, without serious discussion; some highy reputable and respected philosophers continue to defend it as a realistic - perhaps the only - option. . . . you can take having a mind simply as having a certain special set of properties, capacities, and characteristics, something that humans and some higher animals possess but sticks and stones do not. To say that something ‘has a mind’ is to classify it as a certain sort of thing - as a thing with capacities for certain characteristic sorts of behavior and functions, such as sensation, perception, memory, learning, consciousness, and goal-directed action. For this reason, it is less misleading to speak of ‘having a mentality’ than ‘having a mind.’”

I continue this series of quotes with the following:

“Thus, the thesis that minds are substances implies that minds are objects, or things, in their own right; in this respect, they are like material objects - it’s only that . . . they are immaterial [Italics added] objects. They have properties and engage in activities of various sorts, like thinking, sensing, judging, and willing. Most important, they are capable of independent existence. . . . minds and bodies are in causal interaction with each other [as I have shared in my books and blog posts, presenting a mechanism by which this occurs].”

“The dualist view of persons . . . is a form of substance dualism. . . . Substance dualism is the thesis that there are substances of two fundamentally distinct kinds in this world, namely, minds and bodies - or mental stuff and material stuff - and that a person is a composite entity consisting of a mind and a body, each of which is an entity in its own right. . . . a substance is thought to be something that has the capacity for independent existence. Descartes himself wrote, ‘The notion of a substance is just this - that it can exist by itself, that is without the aid of any other substance.’ . . . This means that if my mind is a substance, it can exist without any body existing, or any other mind existing.”