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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Cell. Neurosci.
Sec. Cellular Neurophysiology
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fncel.2024.1525816
This article is part of the Research Topic Reviews in Cellular Neurophysiology 2025 View all articles

Evolutionary Origins of Synchronization for Integrating Information in Neurons

Provisionally accepted
Takashi Shibata Takashi Shibata 1,2*Noriaki Hattori Noriaki Hattori 3Hisao Nishijo Hisao Nishijo 4Tsutomu Takahashi Tsutomu Takahashi 5,6Yuko Higuchi Yuko Higuchi 5,6Satoshi Kuroda Satoshi Kuroda 2Kaoru Takakusaki Kaoru Takakusaki 7
  • 1 Department of Neurosurgery, Toyama Nishi General Hospital, Japan, Toyama, Japan
  • 2 Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan
  • 3 Department of Rehabilitation, Toyama University Hospital, Toyama, Japan
  • 4 Faculty of Human Sciences, University of East Asia, Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi, Japan
  • 5 Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan
  • 6 Research Center for Idling Brain Science, University of Toyama, Toyama, Toyama, Japan
  • 7 Brain Functional Medical Engineering Research Center, Asahikawa Medical University, Asahikawa, Hokkaidō, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The evolution of brain-expressed genes is notably slower than that of genes expressed in other tissues, a phenomenon likely due to high-level functional constraints. One such constraint might be the integration of information by neuron assemblies, enhancing environmental adaptability. This study explores the physiological mechanisms of information integration in neurons through three types of synchronization: chemical, electromagnetic, and quantum. Chemical synchronization involves the diffuse release of neurotransmitters like dopamine and acetylcholine, causing transmission delays of several milliseconds. Electromagnetic synchronization encompasses action potentials, electrical gap junctions, and ephaptic coupling. Electrical gap junctions enable rapid synchronization within cortical GABAergic networks, while ephaptic coupling allows structures like axon bundles to synchronize through extracellular electromagnetic fields, surpassing the speed of chemical processes. Quantum synchronization is hypothesized to involve ion coherence during ion channel passage and the entanglement of photons within the myelin sheath. Unlike the finite-time synchronization seen in chemical and electromagnetic processes, quantum entanglement provides instantaneous non-local coherence states. Neurons might have evolved from slower chemical diffusion to rapid temporal synchronization, with ion passage through gap junctions within cortical GABAergic networks potentially facilitating both fast gamma band synchronization and quantum coherence. This mini-review compiles literature on these three synchronization types, offering new insights into the physiological mechanisms that address the binding problem in neuron assemblies.

    Keywords: synchronization, neuron assemblies, binding problem, molecular evolution, information integration, GABAergic inhibitory interneurons, Quantum coherence

    Received: 11 Nov 2024; Accepted: 13 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Shibata, Hattori, Nishijo, Takahashi, Higuchi, Kuroda and Takakusaki. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Takashi Shibata, Department of Neurosurgery, Toyama Nishi General Hospital, Japan, Toyama, Japan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.