Scientists Discover a New Type of Signal in the Human Brain Never Before Observed

Our brains were more powerful than we thought?

It has been established that there is a new kind of signal in the human neurons, which is caused by the movements of calcium ions, so a new type of neuronal communication was discovered by neuroscientists. This was discovered when analyzing brain tissues normally removed from patient undergoing epilepsy surgeries and the new electrical activity observed was named ‘up-states’. In contrast to sodium-ion dependent signals these calcium dependent signals could help to investigate certain functions of the human brain in a new way. They also say that the human brain can also use logical functions like the XOR function in ways that were formerly believed could not be done without a network solution.

Studying cortical cells, scientists from Germany and Greece stumbled upon this new mechanism, generating a so-called ‘graded’ signal separately, which can give individual neurons a new way to perform ‘logical’ operations.

Analyzing electrical activity present in the occurring epilepsy surgeries, researchers, employed fluorescent microscopy observed that cortical cells employ not only the sodium signal but also the calcium signal. In the case of combined ions these generate distinct voltage waves belonging to calcium-mediated dendritic action potentials (dCaAPs).

Human brain can still be compared to the computer as both of them execute operations in like manner at some level. While the information in computers is written in combination of electrons and transistors, the neurons elaborate their statements in waves of charged particles like sodium, chloride, and potassium through a process referred to as action potentials. While in case of transistors these signals are controlled by a flow of current, neurons handle these signals chemically at the dendrites.

“Dendrites are critical to understanding the brain as they are involved in computing power within single neurons,” added Matthew Larkum from Humboldt University. Dendrites act as traffic lights of the nervous system deciding if the action potential is strong enough to pass through or not.

This basic logic underpins brain function, with voltage ripples communicating in two forms: MESSAGE PASSING (NOT both x and y, but if any of the two is triggered the message is passed) This complexity is most emphasized on the cortex part of the brain which is the outer layer that contains all parts of the brain that is believed to contain the higher purposes.

These layers were examined by the researchers using somatodendritic patch clamp in order to capture signals from the tissue. ”The breakthrough moment was when we recorded the dendritic action potentials for the first time and that was Larkum.

In addition, the researchers also tested the samples from patients with the brain tumor in order to exclude the possibility of their findings related only to epilepsy. The signals in human cells which increased with repression of the PTEN gene were similar to those reported in rats but corresponded to different pathways.

Interestingly, it was possible for signals to abide by sodium channel disconnection through tetrodotoxin yet it was stopped by calcium channel suppression. This discovery of calcium-mediated action potentials is intriguing on its own, but modeling how this new signal functions in the cortex revealed an unexpected capability: neurons can also work as OR (exclusive) intersections – they transmit signals only in case if conditions permit. In the past, people believed that XOR operations imply that they need a complex network solution for their online business.

More studies are required to comprehend dCaAPs in entirety of neurons and living organisms, and whether such mechanism is exclusive to humans only or observed in other living organisms. If technology adopts the functioning of the nervous system then finding out these new cellular mechanisms could be breakthrough in the designing of hardware and networking. More on the role of this new logic function for higher order brain processes will be discussed in a more detailed manner in subsequent research.

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