Sensory Transduction and Subjective Experience: Expression of eight genes in three senses suggests a radical model of consciousness

Recent research into whole genome mapping of the mouse brain has made possible direct investigation of the brain expression of unusual genes. A search of the Allen Brain Atlas database has provided genetic and neuro-anatomical evidence for widespread specific expression in the brain of eight genes specific to sensory transduction, in vision, hearing and touch. A novel biophysical model is proposed for the function of these proteins, in generating the internal model of experiential reality

NEURONIC SYSTEM INSIDE NEURONS: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND BIOPHYSICS OF NEURONAL MICROTUBULES

Neurons are highly specialized cells that input, process, store and output information. Interneuronal communication is achieved in four basic ways: (i) Ca2+ evoked exocytosis with chemical neurotransmission, (ii) gap junction electrotonic coupling, (iii) secretion of neurosteroids, nitric oxide and derivatives of the arachidonic acid acting in paracrine manner, and (iv) cellular adhesive protein interactions with scaffold protein reorganization. Central structure integrating these anisomorphic signals is the neuronal cytoskeleton that is considered to be both sensitive to the local electromagnetic field and prone to intense biochemical modification. With the use of biophysical modeling we have shown that the local electromagnetic field interaction with neuronal microtubules could result in formation of dissipationless waves (solitons) of tubulin tail conformational states that propagate along the microtubule outer surface. Soliton collisions may subserve the function of elementary computational gates and the output of the computation performed by the microtubules may be achieved by the energase action of the tubulin tails that control microtubule-associated protein and motor protein attachment/detachment on the microtubule outer surface

Conformational Dynamics and Thermal Cones of C-terminal Tubulin Tails in Neuronal Microtubules

In this paper we present a model for estimation of the C-terminal tubulin tail (CTT) dynamics in cytoskeletal microtubules of nerve cells. We show that the screened Coulomb interaction between a target CTT and the negatively charged microtubule surface as well as its immediate CTT neighbours results in confinement of the CTT motion\ud within a restricted volume referred to as a thermal cone. Within the thermal cone the CTT motion is driven by the thermal fluctuations, while outside the thermal cone the CTT interaction energy with its environment is above the thermal energy solely due to repulsion from the negatively charged microtubule surface. Computations were performed for different CTT geometries and we have found that the CTT conformation with lowest energy is perpendicular to the microtubule surface. Since the coupling between a target CTT with its neighbour CTTs is 8 orders of magnitude below the thermal energy and considering the extremely short cytosolic Debye length of 0.79 nm, our results rule out generation\ud and propagation of CTT conformational waves along the protofilament as a result of local CTT perturbations. The results as presented support a model in which the cytosolic electric fields and ionic currents generated by the neuronal excitations are "projected" onto the CTTs of underlying microtubules thus affecting their regulatory function\ud upon kinesin motion and MAP attachment/detachment

Solitonic Effects of the Local Electromagnetic Field on Neuronal Microtubules

Current wisdom in classical neuroscience suggests that the only direct action of the electric field in neurons is upon voltage-gated ion channels which open and close their gates during the passage of ions. The intraneuronal biochemical activities are thought to be modulated indirectly either by entering into the cytoplasm ions that act as\ud second messengers, or via linkage to the ion channels enzymes. In this paper we present a novel possibility for subneuronal processing of information by cytoskeletal microtubule tubulin tails and we show that the local electromagnetic field supports information that could\ud be converted into specific protein tubulin tail conformational states. Long-range collective coherent behavior of the tubulin tails could be modelled in the form of solitary waves such as sine-Gordon kinks, antikinks or breathers that propagate along the microtubule outer\ud surface, and the tubulin tail soliton collisions could serve as elementary computational gates that control cytoskeletal processes. The biological importance of the presented model is due to the unique biological enzymatic energase action of the tubulin tails, which is experimentally verified for controlling the sites of microtubule-associated protein\ud attachment and the kinesin transport of post-Golgi vesicles

Neuronic system inside neurons: molecular biology and biophysics of neuronal microtubules

Neurons are highly specialized cells that input, process, store and output information. Interneuronal communication is achieved in four basic ways: (i) Ca2+ evoked exocytosis with chemical neurotransmission, (ii) gap junction electrotonic coupling, (iii) secretion of neurosteroids, nitric oxide and derivatives of the arachidonic acid acting in paracrine manner, and (iv) cellular adhesive protein interactions with scaffold protein reorganization. Central structure integrating these anisomorphic signals is the neuronal cytoskeleton that is considered to be both sensitive to the local electromagnetic field and prone to intense biochemical modification. With the use of biophysical modeling we have shown that the local electromagnetic field interaction with neuronal microtubules could result in formation of dissipationless waves (solitons) of tubulin tail conformational states that propagate along the microtubule outer surface. Soliton collisions may subserve the function of elementary computational gates and the output of the computation performed by the microtubules may be achieved by the energase action of the tubulin tails that control microtubule-associated protein and motor protein attachment/detachment on the microtubule outer surface.Biomedical Reviews 2004; 15: 67-75

Quantum interactive dualism: From Beck and Eccles tunneling model of exocytosis to molecular biology of SNARE zipping

We commence this review by outlining the challenges faced by physical theories of consciousness and briefly describe the two main approaches based on classical or quantum mechanics. Next, we provide a detailed exposition of the motivation, the theoretical construction and experimental falsification of the celebrated model due to Beck and Eccles concerning mind-brain interaction purported to operate at the sites of neurotransmitter release in the brain. Finally, we propose our own model of a vibrationally assisted quantum tunneling mechanism involving a Davydov soliton propagating along the hydrogen bonds in the protein four-α-helix bundle of the SNARE complex (soluble NSF attachment protein receptor; NSF, N-ethylmaleimide sensitive fusion proteins) that drives synaptic vesicle fusion. We also discuss the possible experimental tests that could falsify our model. Since erasure of consciousness by volatile anesthetics results from binding to the hydrophobic core of the SNARE four-α-helix bundle, our model is well suited to support quantum interactive dualism.Biomedical Reviews 2014; 25: 15-24