A new book out today "Bridging Molecular Mechanisms and Neural Oscillatory Dynamics"
It introduces "Self Aware Networks: Theory of Mind" a new framework for understanding how consciousness arises from neural activity.
This book “Bridging Molecular Mechanisms and Neural Oscillatory Dynamics” and the Self Aware Networks Theory of Mind provide a novel unified framework for understanding consciousness addressing attention binding, the hard problem: how we observe what we observe, and qualia, what those observations are made out of .
“Bridging Molecular Mechanisms and Neural Oscillatory Dynamics”
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DLGBHJHG
I know my book, a book on neuroscience, is not super easy to read. Fortunately I made a few videos 2 years ago, summer of 2022, that explain the core ideas that are now in the book I recently published this November 2024.
My videos are easier to digest than the book, and they are free.
NAPOT 1rst Version (Whitepaper), 1 hour
NAPOT 5th Revision, 1 hour
3 minute description of my work
1 hour video that explains NAPOT the central thesis of Self Aware Networks
13 minute Self Aware Networks: A longer explanation of my research, my past work, and what I have built.
A theory that proposes specific mechanisms for conscious experiences—thoughts, feelings, and perceptions—arise from precisely orchestrated variations in synaptic firing frequencies across the brain. These variations are not random; they are systematically modulated by phase wave differentials that propagate across networks of frequency-matched neural oscillators.
The Volumetric 3D Television of the Mind
In the SAN model, neural information is processed volumetrically in three dimensions plus time, with phase wave variations encoded and stored within synaptic firing rates. These rates can shift between various frequencies, creating what the theory calls a "volumetric three-dimensional television" of the mind, where conscious experience is rendered through the precise modulation of neural oscillations.
Sensory Processing in SAN
A crucial mechanism in the SAN framework involves the processing of sensory inputs. The theory identifies a specific pathway where alpha wave frequencies drive inversely correlated gamma waves, creating a channel through which sensory information flows to the prefrontal cortex. This relationship between different frequency bands illuminates how the brain transforms raw sensory data into conscious experience.
Key Concepts and Supporting Evidence
The book describes several key concepts and provides supporting evidence for the SAN theory.
Memory Persistence Paradox
The book addresses the fundamental question of how memories endure despite the ephemeral nature of their molecular substrates. They point to the role of the KIBRA-PKMζ complex in anchoring memory-related proteins at synapses, maintaining their strength despite continuous molecular turnover. This molecular stability is crucial for supporting the brain's sophisticated information processing through phase wave differentials.
Neural Array Projection Oscillation Tomography (NAPOT)
The book develops the concept of NAPOT, which explains how neural arrays project and integrate oscillatory patterns across brain regions. They examine how Non-linear Differential Continuous Approximation (NDCA) provides a mathematical framework for understanding how phase wave differentials emerge from molecular interactions and propagate across neural networks. These concepts culminate in a comprehensive model of how the brain constructs its "3D television" representation of consciousness, grounded in empirical findings about molecular mechanisms like KIBRA-PKMζ interactions and their role in stabilizing synaptic frequencies.
Biological Oscillating Tomography (BOT)
The book explains how BOT utilizes oscillatory neural activity to reconstruct and maintain 3D plus time sensory representations. They propose that synchronized oscillations across neural arrays act similarly to the multiple projections used in medical imaging techniques like CT scans, enabling the brain to synthesize complex sensory information into coherent spatial and temporal maps.
Fourier Slice Transform (FST)
The book discusses how FST, a mathematical principle used in tomography, aids in modeling how phase projections intersect and integrate to form comprehensive volumetric 3D sensory maps. This is compared to how CT scans reconstruct 3D images from 2D X-ray slices.
Significance and Implications of SAN
Understanding the frequency dynamics and their role in consciousness represents a fundamental shift in how we conceptualize brain function. Rather than viewing neural activity as simply a series of binary firing patterns, the Self Aware Networks Theory reveals a sophisticated system where consciousness emerges from the complex interplay of frequency modulations and phase relationships across neural networks.
This framework provides a coherent explanation for how the brain generates our rich inner experience, offering insights into the fundamental mechanisms underlying consciousness and cognition. Through the lens of frequency variations and phase wave differentials, we begin to see how the brain constructs our moment-to-moment conscious experience, rendering our thoughts, feelings, and perceptions in a dynamic three-dimensional neural workspace.
SAN and The Hard Problem: A Critical Examination
The Self Aware Networks (SAN) Theory offers a unique approach to the hard problem of consciousness by connecting the synchronization of oscillating neural activity to the emergence of internal observers.
Firefly Synchrony: A Model for Neural Entification
The book frequently draws parallels between the synchronization of fireflies and the oscillatory behavior of neurons to illustrate the concept of entification. In a group of fireflies, each individual flashes its light at its own pace. However, when they come together, they gradually adjust their flashing rhythms until they flash in unison. This collective behavior enhances their visibility and serves as a powerful survival mechanism.
SAN proposes that neural arrays in the brain behave similarly. Individual neurons oscillate at specific frequencies, but through mutual interactions, they can synchronize their firing patterns, forming a unified entity capable of acting as an internal observer. This "entification" of neural assemblies is key to SAN's explanation of how subjective experiences arise.
Internal Observers: The Foundation of Conscious Experience
The theory posits that these synchronized groups of cells, operating as internal observers, can perceive and interpret sensory information. Each observer monitors a specific aspect of the brain's internal model, constructed through phase wave differentials – variations in the timing of neural firing across networks. The collective activity of these observers, each representing a distinct facet of sensory or cognitive experience, gives rise to the unified phenomenon of consciousness.
Bridging the Gap: From Oscillations to Subjective Experience
SAN acknowledges the challenge of bridging the gap between objective neural activity and subjective experience. However, it suggests that the process of oscillation tomography – the brain's ability to construct internal representations through the synchronization and phase modulation of neural oscillations – offers a potential solution.
The theory doesn't provide a detailed account of how qualia, the subjective qualities of experience, are generated. However, it suggests that phase wave differentials act as the "building blocks" of these internal representations. These variations in oscillatory timing are not merely abstract mathematical constructs; they are physical events with measurable effects on neural activity.
Strengths of SAN's Approach
SAN's approach to the hard problem has several strengths:
Empirical grounding
The theory is grounded in empirical findings about the oscillatory behavior of neurons and the molecular mechanisms that support synaptic plasticity.Conceptual coherence
SAN provides a conceptually coherent framework that links the microscopic level of neural activity to the macroscopic level of conscious experience.Explanatory power
The theory offers a potential explanation for a wide range of cognitive phenomena, including perception, memory, and even altered states of consciousness.
Exploring the neural mechanisms that underlie the formation and integration of internal observers.
Investigating the potential role of other factors, such as neurochemical modulation and glial cell activity, in shaping conscious experience within the SAN framework.
The Perception of Redness: A Case Study in the SAN Framework
The book provides a foundation for understanding how the Self Aware Networks (SAN) Theory addresses qualia, specifically through the example of perceiving the color red. SAN suggests that conscious experiences, including the subjective experience of redness, arise from the precise interplay of neural oscillations, phase wave differentials, and the formation of internal observers.
Neural Oscillations and the "Redness" Observer
SAN proposes that specific groups of neurons, oscillating in synchrony, act as internal observers, each attuned to particular aspects of sensory or cognitive experience. In the case of redness, a dedicated neural array, specialized for color processing, would generate a unique pattern of phase wave differentials when stimulated by light of the appropriate wavelength. The front of this array would observe the "red" signal, while the back would project this information to subsequent neural arrays, creating a continuous flow of information processing.
Constructing Redness Through Oscillation Tomography
The concept of oscillation tomography, central to the NAPOT framework, explains how these phase patterns are integrated to form a cohesive representation of the perceived color. Unlike holography, which relies on interference patterns, oscillation tomography utilizes phase changes to construct a layered, cross-sectional representation of reality. In the case of redness, the brain would generate tomograms by integrating phase signals across the neural arrays involved in color processing, resulting in a dynamic, volumetric experience of the color red.
Distinguishing Redness: The Role of the Observer
The ability to perceive redness as distinct from other colors necessitates an observer capable of discerning this difference. SAN suggests that this distinction is achieved through the unique pattern of phase wave differentials associated with red. The internal observer, formed by the synchronized oscillations of the color-processing neural array, can differentiate this pattern from those representing other colors, such as blue.
Key Points Highlighting the SAN Explanation of "Redness"
Specific Neural Arrays: Dedicated neural arrays, specialized for processing specific sensory information like color, generate unique tempo-spatial patterns of phase wave differentials.
Phase Wave Differentials as Building Blocks: Phase wave differentials, acting as fundamental units of neural rendering, encode the specific qualities of sensory experiences, including redness.
Oscillation Tomography: The brain utilizes oscillation tomography to integrate phase patterns across neural arrays, constructing a multi-dimensional representation of the perceived color.
Internal Observer: The synchronized oscillations of the color-processing neural array give rise to an internal observer capable of experiencing and distinguishing redness from other colors
Oddly enough the most interesting thing about this book which introduces the Self Aware Networks Theory of Mind isn’t really encapsulated in the concept that it explains how the brain is a network that becomes Self Aware, it does do that, but the most interesting part of this book is that it Bridges Molecular Mechanisms and Neural Oscillatory Dynamics in a way that hasn’t been done before in human history.
“Bridging Molecular Mechanisms and Neural Oscillatory Dynamics” is on sale now on Amazon Kindle and as a Paperback from Amazon.com
https://amazon.com/dp/B0DLG5XB34