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Neuromolecular computing: a new approach to human brain evolution.

R Wallace1, H Price

  • 1Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-1360, USA. rwallace@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu

Biological Cybernetics
|September 4, 1999
PubMed
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Molecular interactions within neural membranes may perform computations, offering a new level for understanding brain evolution. This molecular-level processing could explain complex cognitive functions and be shaped by natural selection.

Area of Science:

  • Neurobiology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Computational Neuroscience

Background:

  • Traditional evolutionary studies of human cognitive neurobiology focus on macroscopic brain structures.
  • Emerging research suggests the potential for modeling human information processing at the molecular level.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review evidence for molecular-level computational properties within neural membranes.
  • To propose a model where hydrophobic-mismatch interactions in phospholipid microdomains act as a massively parallel algorithm for cognitive and physiological problem-solving.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing studies utilizing thin-film, simulation, fluorescence microscopy, and X-ray crystallography.
  • Examination of molecular interactions within neural membrane phospholipid microdomains.

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Main Results:

  • Evidence suggests transiently organized neural membrane molecular systems possess computational properties.
  • Hydrophobic-mismatch interactions within microdomains may function as a parallel algorithm for rapid computation.
  • Coupling of microdomain activity to ion channels converts molecular computations into neural frequency codes.

Conclusions:

  • Neuromolecular computation offers a novel framework for understanding cognitive neurobiology.
  • Evidence for protein transport suggests neuromolecular computation is genetically controlled and subject to natural selection.
  • Further experimental approaches are needed to investigate evolutionary changes in neuromolecular computation.