A mysterious electromagnetic mechanism may be more important than the firing of neurons in our brains to explain our awareness
The neuron, the specialized cell type that makes up much of our brains, is at the center of today's neuroscience. Neuroscientists explain perception, memory, cognition and even consciousness itself as products of billions of these tiny neurons busily firing their tiny "spikes" of voltage inside our brain. These energetic spikes not only convey things like pain and other sensory information to our conscious mind, but they are also in theory able to explain every detail of our complex consciousness. At least in principle. The details of this "neural code" have yet to be worked out. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. While neuroscientists have long focused on spikes travelling throughout brain cells, "ephaptic" field effects may really be the primary mechanism for consciousness and cognition. These effects, resulting from the electric fields produced by neurons rather than their synaptic firings, may play a leading role in our mind's workings. In 1943 American scientists first described what is known today as the neural code, or spike code. They fleshed out a detailed map of how logical operations can be completed with the "all or none" nature of neural firing—similar to how today's computers work. Since then neuroscientists around the world have engaged in a vast endeavor to crack the neural code in order to understand the specifics of cognition and consciousness. To little avail. "The most obvious chasm in our understanding is in all the things we did not meet on our journey from your eye to your hand," confessed neuroscientist Mark Humphries in 2020's The Spike, a deep dive into this journey: "All the things of the mind I've not been able to tell you about, because we know so little of what spikes do to make them." Brain…