The Molecular Basis of Neural Memory. Part 6: Chemical Coding of Logical and Emotive Modes

Abstract

Neural memory, with many aspects (associative, cognitive, declarative, episodic, implicit, procedural, semantic, working, short/long-term), emerges from the mental processes of the active neural net. Our goal is to describe memory as an emergent, generic process which evolved from bacterial signaling, constrained by the laws of chemistry and capabilities of cell biology. We invoke tripartite interactions of 3 compartments: [ neurons ] [ nECM] ( neu ral extracellular ma trix ) [ dopants] (comprising diffusible metals and neuro-transmitters (NTs)). The neuron manipulates the dopants to form metal-centered complexes within the nECM (which functions as a “memory material”) to encode cognitive units of information ( cuinfo ) (singular/plural). Psychic states (emotions) as well as physiologic responses (feelings), both are chemically encoded with >90 NTs which can bind to metals tethered to nECM, to literally embody “emotional memory”, chemographically represented. The evolution of a brain operating in emotive and logical modes of memory and mentation, suggests a “phase” diagram, wherein the logical and emotive modes of memory emerge coincident with increasing brain size, capacity and complexity. The tripartite mechanism permits of a chemical perspective to the evolution of “rational” and “emotive” modes of neural memory.