Scientists have recently discovered a unique never-before-seen brain cell signaling occurring in the human brain. The exciting discovery hints at the possibilities of more powerful brain capabilities that have not been explored in science before.
How Does the Human Brain Work?
The human brain contains billions of nerve cells, according to Mayo Clinic. The cells are systematically arranged in complex patterns which coordinate all your behavior, thoughts, emotion, sensations, and movements. A complex highway system of nerves serves as a connection between the brain and the rest of the human body, where communication between individual cells can occur in less than seconds.
Although the entire brain works together to deliver and receive millions of communications at a time, each part of the brain is in charge of specific functions that control everything from your mood, diet, to heart rate.
The largest part of the human brain is the cerebrum. Its outer layer, the cerebral cortex, is the 'gray matter' of the human brain. Deep floods and wrinkles increase the brain's surface area where information can be processed.
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First-of-its-Kind Brain Signal Detected
Researchers from Germany and Greece reported brain mechanisms in its outer cortical cells which produce a new form of 'graded' signals all on its own, which could provide neurons with a new way of carrying out their functions.
The team measured electrical activities in various sections of tissues removed before surgery on epileptic patients. Analyzing of the tissue structure via fluorescent microscopy, neurologists discover individual cells in the human cortex which used more than the usual amount of sodium ions to shoot communications but calcium as well.
The never-before-seen combination of positively charged ions snowballed into waves of voltage referred to as calcium-mediated dendritic action potential or simply, dCaAPs.
Human brains are at often times compared to computers. With limited analogical limits but can, otherwise, perform complex tasks similarly. Both utilize power from electrical voltage to carry out numerous operations.
In neurons, the signals that are passed from one nerve to the other form waves of opening and closing channels that exchange charged sodium, chloride, and potassium particles. These pulses are thereby known as an action potential, as ScienceAlert reports.
Mathew Larkum, co-author and neuroscientists from Humboldt University of the study published in the journal Science entitled "Dendritic action potentials and computation in human layer 2/3 cortical neurons" explain that dendrites are key to fully understand the brain and its computational power.
The tissue samples by the researchers are known as somatodendritic patch clams are in charge of sending active potentials back and forth from each neuron and recording the passed signals.
To ensure that the recent discovery of first-of-its-kind human brain signals was not unique to epileptic patients, the team double-checked their results with a handful of samples from brain tumors.
Despite the team conducting the same experiment on model rats, a unique buzzing in the cells was observed in human cells. Additionally, researchers dosed the cells with sodium channel blockers known as tetrodotoxin where they still found signals. Only when the team blocked calcium did the signals became quiet.
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