Apparatus and methods of transcranial stimulation to adjust sensory cortical dendritic spine neck membrane potentials for altering consciousness

Abstract

Altering consciousness by transcranial stimulation to adjust the membrane potential duration (FIG. 1, Ref. 7) of sensory cortex dendritic spine necks (FIG. 1, Ref 6); sensory cortex spine neck membranes are conscious.

Claims

1. An apparatus and method of brain stimulation to adjust the membrane potential duration of sensory dendritic spine necks for altering consciousness.

2. A method of claim 1 wherein the brain stimulation is any of electrical, magnetic, transcranial, direct, anodal, cathodal, alternating, rotating, intermittent photic, ultrasound, functional ultrasound, chemical, anesthetic agent, a combination thereof.

3. A method of claim 1 comprising the steps of, a. placing electrodes on or near the scalp, b. applying electric fields to the spine neck membranes in sensory cortex, c. adjusting stimulation parameters, including not limited to location, direction, frequency, amplitude and duty cycle, d. to alter consciousness for a predetermined duration.

4. A method of claim 1 wherein membrane potentials are monitored at neuron locations to include but not limited to axon, soma, dendrite, synapse, and spine neck, using any of near infra-red spectroscopy, ultrasound, functional ultrasound, magnetoencephalography, EEG, EMG, fMRI, dendrite spine electrodes, a combination thereof, with user feedback on monitored activity including but not limited to cortical location and duration of said potentials.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] FIG. 1 is a primary sensory cortex neuron, emphasizing the dendritic spine neck, one of trillions in the sensory cortex.

[0033] FIG. 2 is a user altering consciousness by stimulating dendritic spine-neck membrane potentials.

[0034] FIG. 3 is a dendritic spine electrode.

[0035] FIG. 4 is an apparatus for a plurality of dendritic spine electrodes

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES AND EMBODIMENTS

[0036] FIG. 1 is a sensory cortex neuron emphasizing the dendritic spine neck.

[0037] Ref. 1. The presynaptic axon bouton. Here the neuron stores and releases neurotransmitters to excite or inhibit recipient neurons (not drawn). The synapse is the basis of neuronal chemical communication.

[0038] Ref. 2. The axon. The axon transmits the neuron membrane potential to the synapse (1). The membrane potential during an action potential is 1-2 milliseconds (9). Propagation speed is increased by myelin insulation. Analysis of the firing rate of action potentials is the basis of cognitive neuroscience.

[0039] Ref. 3. The cell body—the soma. The changing membrane potentials along the cell summate here to reach the threshold that fires the action potential. These neurons are the first-line cortical receivers of sensory input from the sensory receptors: the eye, ear, skin, mouth, and inside the body that are relayed to the cortex from the thalamus.

[0040] Ref. 4. The dendrites. labels two of the four dendrites protruding from the soma. The dendrites contain the receptors for sensory inputs from the thalamic sending neuron and pass them along the membrane to the soma.

[0041] Ref. 5. The spine head. In sensory cortex pyramidal neurons, the dendritic receptors along the dendrite are located on top of characteristic bumps along their membrane surface called spines where the receptors are densely clustered at the postsynaptic side of the synapse. The postsynaptic membrane is embedded with receptors in particular NMDA receptors that change with long-term potentiation and memory.

[0042] Ref. 6. The spine neck. The shape and size of the spine neck relative to the neuron is drawn to emphasize the unique and hitherto unexplained electrical resistance levels. The spine neck contains a skeleton of actin molecules that determines its diameter and length, its capacitance and resistance. The shape and resistance vary over time and with synaptic activity. There are 300 trillion synapses in the brain. Spine neck duration and location are not determined by the pyramidal neuron it is protruding from.

[0043] Ref. 7. The spine neck membrane potential. Sensory cortex spine neck membrane potentials sufficient duration are conscious.

[0044] Ref 8. An excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP). The electrode piercing the soma is registering an EPSP after synaptic activation. The amplitude and duration is compared to that of the spine neck in Ref. 7. The duration of soma and dendrite membrane potential changes are below the threshold for conscious sensation.

[0045] Ref. 9. An action potential. A membrane action potential is a 1-2 millisecond spike that travels down the axon to the synapse to cause the release of neurotransmitters. Firing rates of action potentials vary over time and in different neuronal groups. The firing rates are analyzed to create representative models of brain function including consciousness although action potentials are below the duration threshold for conscious detection.

[0046] Ref 10. A dendrite spine electrode. The electrode apparati are described in FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 2 is a user altering consciousness by stimulating dendritic spine-neck membrane potentials.

[0047] The stimulating field, Ref 1, is adjusting the duration of the membrane potential of sensory cortical dendritic spine necks, referenced in FIG. 1, Ref 7. Said membrane potentials are adjusted by any one of electrical, magnetic, transcranial, direct, anodal, cathodal, alternating, rotating, intermittent photic (visual), a plurality of external sensory receptors, including but not limited to auditory, and somatosensory, ultrasound, functional ultrasound, chemical, anesthetic agent, a combination thereof. In one embodiment a transcranial device, Ref. 2, is placed on or near the user's head, Ref 3. and connected by wires, Ref 4, to a control device, Ref 5, that is user-adjusted, Ref 6. The stimulation parameters include but are not limited to pulse width, pulse rise time, pulse fall time, interval, amplitude, orientation, duty-cycle and frequency. The locations of the stimulating electrodes are adjusted to position the fields on the membrane potentials. These parameters are optimized to alter the membrane potentials in a selected cortical region that includes primary sensory cortical neurons including their dendrites. The sensations reported by the user are used to modulate the perceived intensity. Brain regions include but are not limited to, occipital, parietal, temporal, insular cortices, and primary sensory receptors in the frontal cortex, brainstem and spinal cord. In one embodiment the spine neck membrane durations in cortical regions are monitored with any of near infra-red spectroscopy, ultrasound, functional ultrasound, magnetoencephalography, EEG, EMG, fMRI, dendrite spine electrodes, a combination thereof, with user feedback on monitored activity including but not limited to cortical location and duration of said potentials.

FIG. 3 is a dendrite electrode. The drawing shows a needle electrode and its attachment to a wire. In one embodiment, Ref 1 is a needle electrode, Ref 2. is an apparatus to hold and connect the electrode to a wire, Ref. 3.
FIG. 4 is an apparatus for a plurality of dendrite electrodes.
FIG. 4 shows one embodiment. of an apparatus for a plurality of electrodes. Ref. 1 shows a plurality of needle electrodes; Ref 2. holds and connects the electrodes to a wire, Ref 3. This embodiment records simultaneously from any of axon action potentials, soma summation, postsynaptic EPSPs, spine neck membrane, a combination thereof over sufficient time intervals to study conscious sensory detection thresholds and receptive fields. In one embodiment the spine neck membrane durations in cortical regions are monitored with any of near infra-red spectroscopy, ultrasound, functional ultrasound, magnetoencephalography, EEG, EMG, fMRI, a combination thereof, with user feedback on monitored activity including but not limited to cortical location and duration of said potentials.