Tripartite Mechanism of Neural Memory: Proof-of-Concept with Neuromimetic Impedence Electrodes

Abstract

The idea that neural signaling is the basis of mental processes has a long history. We graphically summarize salient developments in the neurobiology of signaling, as a Timeline. In particular, we review the “tripartite mechanism” of neural memory, which centers on the interactions between a neuron with its surrounding extracellular matrix (nECM) doped with metals and neurotransmitters (NTs). Essentially, the neuron employs the nECM as its “memory material”, wherein it uses dopants to encode cognitive units of information (termed “cuinfo”). The NTs, which elicit bodily reactions (feelings), also encode past feelings as emotions, which “color” mental states in real-time and in memory. In the interest of developing experimental tests of the tripartite mechanism, impedance glass electrodes were covalently coated with an exemplar NT (oxytocin) or a sulfated tetra-saccharide analog of the nECM, were constructed and tested. The two types of coated, neuro-mimetic electrodes, termed “neulectrodes”, were capable of detecting metals, such as Hg+2, Pb+2, Cd+2, Cu+2, and Zn+2 with very high selectivity and sensitivity. The “neulectrodes” demonstrated that the chemodynamic interactions of metal cations with NTs or nECM-saccharide analogues can translate into electrodynamic signals. They experimentally validate the concept of the tripartite mechanism that underlies the chemo-electric encoding of neural memory.