Macroscopic EEG fields can be an explicit top-down neocortical mechanism that directly drives bottom-up processes that describe memory, attention, and other neuronal processes. The top-down mechanism considered are macrocolumnar EEG firings in neocortex, as described by a statistical mechanics of neocortical interactions (SMNI), developed as a magnetic vector potential $\mathbf{ A}$. The bottom-up process considered are $\mathrm{ Ca}^{ 2+}$ waves prominent in synaptic and extracellular processes that are considered to greatly influence neuronal firings. Here, the complimentary effects are considered, i.e., the influence of $\mathbf{ A}$ on $\mathrm{ Ca}^{ 2+}$ momentum, $\mathbf{ p}$. The canonical momentum of a charged particle in an electromagnetic field, $\mathbf{ \Pi} = \mathbf{ p} + q \mathbf{ A}$ (SI units), is calculated, where the charge of $\mathrm{ Ca}^{ 2+}$ is $q = - 2 e$, $e$ is the magnitude of the charge of an electron. Calculations demonstrate that macroscopic EEG $\mathbf{ A}$ can be quite influential on the momentum $\mathbf{ p}$ of $\mathrm{ Ca}^{ 2+}$ ions, in both classical and quantum mechanics. Molecular scales of $\mathrm{ Ca}^{ 2+}$ wave dynamics are coupled with $\mathbf{ A}$ fields developed at macroscopic regional scales measured by coherent neuronal firing activity measured by scalp EEG. The project has three main aspects: fitting $\mathbf{ A}$ models to EEG data as reported here, building tripartite models to develop $\mathbf{ A}$ models, and studying long coherence times of $\mathrm{ Ca}^{ 2+}$ waves in the presence of $\mathbf{ A}$ due to coherent neuronal firings measured by scalp EEG. The SMNI model supports a mechanism wherein the $\mathbf{ p} + q \mathbf{ A}$ interaction at tripartite synapses, via a dynamic centering mechanism (DCM) to control background synaptic activity, acts to maintain short-term memory (STM) during states of selective attention.
Categories: q-bio.NC