Mohammed Shaban

Researchers from Germany and Greece have discovered a unique form of cellular messages that travel between neurons in the human brain, something that has never been seen before.

Surprisingly, such a discovery indicates that our brains may carry more computing power than we thought.

In their study, published in the journal Science on January 3, researchers discovered a mechanism in the cerebral cortex cells - which produces new, stepped signals on their own - that can give neurons another way to perform their logical functions.

Brain and nervous arousal
The human brain contains billions of neurons, which are the functional unit of the brain. The neuron is coated with a cell membrane that acts as an insulator between the outer and inner cell fluids; as a result of this separation across the membrane produces a difference in electrical voltage on both ends of the membrane, which results from the difference in concentration and difference of ions across the sides of the membrane.

In order for the neuron to perform the tasks assigned to it, it must be excitable, which produces a different concentration and distribution of these ions on both sides of the membrane; and then the cell sits under the influence of the so-called "action potential", which spreads along the axis of the neuron allowing for the transfer Electrical activity - or what is known as neural flow - from one cell to another.

The neuron is the brain's functional component unit (pixsbye)

Neurologists have discovered some single neurons in the cerebral cortex, which use not only the usual sodium ions to induce neurostimulation, but also calcium.

This mixture of positively charged ions creates unprecedented waves of voltage, called the calcium dendrite action potential (dCaAP). When the channels in the cell membrane open or close, this leads to the exchange of charged ions (such as sodium, chloride, and potassium) across the sides of the membrane, which causes the action potential.

Natural transistors
We often compare the capabilities of our human minds and computers. Although this approach is limited, they perform some tasks in a similar way sometimes.

"Neurodendices are important areas for understanding the brain, because they are the core of what determines the computing power of individual neurons," Matthew Larcom, a neuroscientist and study leader from the University of Humboldt, Germany, told the American Association for Advanced Science, which was reported by the ScienceAlert website.

Dendritic neurons in our brains work like a computer (Pixabay)

He added that "these dendrite act as traffic lights that allow or prevent the passage of nerve messages; if the generated action effort is sufficient, the nerve messages are transmitted and communicated collectively."

We can say that there is no more complicated area in the brain than the dense and circumferential outer region of the cerebral cortex, which is followed by the thick and thick second and third layers with branches that perform higher functions, such as sensation, thinking and movement control.

The researchers looked closely at the tissues of these layers. It was a moment "I found" for these scientists when they "saw the efforts of dendrite movement for the first time," says Larcom.

Human brain signals
Although the team did similar experiments with mice, the type of signals they observed in human brains were completely different. More importantly, these signals continued to occur even after the sodium channels were suppressed, but when calcium was suppressed these signals ceased.

Tangle of neurons while transmitting the electrical signal (Pixabay)

The detection of an action potential induced by calcium ions is exceptional, but modeling the way in which this type of signal works reveals a new surprise, as discovered neurons can pass electrical signals if they come in gradually and in a certain way.

However, more research is still needed to find out how the calcium-dendrite dendritic potential behaves across whole neurons, and whether similar mechanisms have evolved in one way or another in the animal kingdom; which leaves an important question for future researchers: How for this new logical tool Found in some single neurons that translate into higher functions?