TITLE:
Novel Bioelectric Mechanisms and Functional Significance of Peripheral and Central Entrainment by Respiration
AUTHORS:
Ravinder Jerath, Connor Beveridge
KEYWORDS:
Bioelectric, Respiration, Embodied Cognition, Oxidation, Membrane Potential, Neural Oscillation, Hyperpolarization
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Neuroscience,
Vol.8 No.4,
November
28,
2018
ABSTRACT: The
human organism is a complex biological system with emergent properties that
arise from the unified functional interactions among its diverse components.
When studying the brain and body in light of modern biological systems
approaches, one must analyze them in a holistic manner, putting aside reductionist
models in order to understand how certain properties manifest from complex
system interactions. The respiratory system is capable of continuously adapting
to changes in the internal and external environment, making it one of the most
integrated of physiological processes. We propose an additional respiratory
process: respiration-derived electrical currents during inspiration that spread
throughout the entire body maintaining homeostasis through entraining
oscillatory activity, modulating cognitive processes, and modulating the
autonomic nervous system. If these currents are indeed created in part from
redox reactions occurring on a massive scale, then we assert they are a major
aspect of an embodied cognitive framework. We propose that this potentially
major source of organism integrity has been overlooked, and its application to
medicine could drastically change how we understand human physiology, the
autonomic nervous system, and the therapeutic treatment of various clinical
disorders.