Senses As Waves

This Text Is One Aspect Of An Integrated System Of Thought Concerning Waves And Wavelike Applications--Completed Mid July, 2001. The Previous Texts That Led Eventually To This One Are "The Brain As A Matter Wave System" Located At: http://www.johnkharms.com/wave-brain.htm And "Wave Electricity" (A Physics Related Text That Was Also Important In The Writing Of This Text) Located At: http://www.johnkharms.com/electricity.htm . The Philosophical Underpinnings Of This Text May Be Viewed At: http://www.johnkharms.com/wave-reality.htm .

The Senses As Wavelike Systems

Are Different Sensations Due To Different Vibrational Frequencies?

"Wave" Electricity Stimuli, Nerve Cells And The Sensory Experience

The Key Difference Between Heat And Cold Sensations Distinguished.

By: John K. Harms

Email: harmsjk3@earthlink.net

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Abstract:

This text offers a wave picture of the senses. It proposes that sensory input stimuli are due to the differences in the frequencies of matter waves. These differences are equivalent to voltages which give rise to a negative depolarization current. The strength of this stimulus current also depends (as in electrical circuits) on the resistances present within the system. These resistances in each case are noted. The stimulus to nerve cells, therefore, is primarily electrical in nature, due mainly to differences in the frequencies of the stimuli verses that of the sensory organs. A large difference in frequency equates to a large amplitude stimulus. Nerve cells, which are shown to also be wave systems, then translate the stimulating current into the wave language of the brain. The stimulus is then sent as waves to the proper brain region or regions for further analysis. Within the text, each sensory system in the body (vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste) are described in wavelike terms, followed by a generalized description toward the end of nerve cells also as wavelike systems. Harmonic overtones may result in an overlap in sensory information of two or more brain regions at once. This is in agreement with recent finding. It is notable that the sensations of hot and cold may be explained as electrical current stimuli which flow in opposite directions. So, the author concludes that all of physical reality is a wavelike disturbance. Necessarily, the interpretation of these waves are by other wave systems; the nerve cells and brain. The reason that we do not see the waves as waves, is that our visual systems have evolved to emphasize the edges of matter, even where no edges actually exist. Thus, human beings have a preference for particles, as defined by their physical edges. The probable consequences of this model are discussed.

Key Words: Senses, Matter Waves, Electromagnetic Waves, Frequency, Sensations, Vision, Hearing, Taste, Smell, Touch, Electrical Potential (Voltage), Current, Resistance, Nerve Cells, Edges, Heat, Cold, ATP, Depolarization

Introduction

In a previous text, the brain is described as a matter-wave entity. This notion was an extension of the work of Louis de Broglie, the father (in the author's opinion) of picturing reality in purely wavelike terms. Taken a step further, this idea may be extended to include all sensory inputs, which are essentially the waves in the physical environment (matter and/or radiation) interacting with the matter waves that compose the sense organs.

It can be logically deduced in addition to this, that the various sensations that we experience are primarily different frequencies of wave-vibration inputs from the physical environment. These inputs in the wave picture may create the resonance's that extend from the sensory organs via waves to the specific specialized regions of the brain. These wave to wave interactions form the basis of the proposal within this text.

Typically, in most other accounts of this sensory dependent process, chemicals in the organs are very often identified and chemical interactions are described as the causes of sensory experiences. Sensory experiences are, thus, described in terms of chemistry.

The author believes, however, that this type of description is primarily one-sided; only a "particle-like" process describing the various brain-states. Furthermore, there may indeed be practical limits to the explanatory power of the particle "chemical" approach all by itself. Hence, the author believes that this "wavelike" model will offer some new insights not presently understandable in the purely "particle" picture. Therefore, by not treating sensory stimuli as simply the result of chemical interactions (the present paradigm), perhaps, an increased understanding of the overall sensory input system with the environment may be realized.

According to quantum mechanics (the most highly-tested theory in physics history and one of the most powerful legacies of de Broglie's work), there must also be a "wavelike" description of these same basic processes. In the author's opinion, the wavelike description may grant some new physical insights into an area currently exclusively dominated by the particle "chemical" approach. Again, this chemical paradigm is the strictly one-sided methodology in such common usage today.

The brain, therefore, must also be a "matter wave" system that can go into a resonance mode when there is an electrical stimulation by other sensory-input waves. Such wave pathways can resonate (creating an electrical current) when there are interactions (and an interface) with reinforcing waves from the environment. There may also be some harmonic resonance's between the different sense regions within the brain. For example, the eyes may resonate as overtones the brain regions for hearing. This is in agreement with experimental findings (Bower, 2001).

Hence, waves from the physical environment primarily can create harmonic vibrations of the sensory organs carried along by nerve cells as wave propagations. This in-turn leads on down the line to the brain's own internal "reactive" resonance's. The sensory experience, therefore, is not only describable in terms of chemistry i.e., particles, but due in greater measure to the resonance's of wave interactions with each other via electrical wave signals.

The brain is, therefore, the key to all sensory experiences. The organs which transmit environmental wave stimuli into the wave language of the brain will be discussed in the sections to follow. This primarily will be an analysis of the functioning of the different sensory wave systems and their connections to the brain-wave system. This is followed by the consequences of this wave model in the conclusion.

It is notable that in all sensory cells that energy is first absorbed, and then converted into electrical energy which produces a receptor potential (Villee et al, 1985). The mechanism proposed by this text is that a difference in potential already exists between pieces of matter based upon their inherent wavelike structures. So, it is this difference in frequency that produces a sensory receptor potential, a depolarization of the cell membrane. One might name this the "matter wave" model of sensory stimulation.

Vision As A Wave System

Vision may be divided into three aspects; color, motion and form. When vision is pictured in the context of waves, a somewhat different picture of these three characteristics does emerge.

(1) Color: We now know a significant amount about the processing of color inputs to the color-selective cells in the layers of the retina, in the lateral geniculate nucleus. This is the thalamic relay from the retina to the visual cortex--and in the visual cortex. For example, in the lateral geniculate nucleus one finds the so-called color-opponent neurons (Edelman & Tononi, 2000). This is described in items # 1, # 2 and # 3 below.

Although the photoreceptors themselves utilize a system similar to the Young-Helmholtz system of three primary colors (red, yellow and blue), the deeper wave relay system neurons within the visual system appear to utilize processes closer to the Hering color-opponent system. In light of this, the author will describe this Hering opponent system in terms of waves.

Actually, either of these two systems (Hering or Young-Helmholtz) may be describable in wavelike terms. However, the color-opponent processes system (first understood by Ewald Hering) appears to be much more common within the brain as a whole. In fact, Hering's system is very nicely describable in terms of waves and wavelike processes. These "opponent" processes (as they are called) consist of three opposite color sensations:

1) The Red-Green Sensation

2) The Yellow-Blue Sensation

3) The Black-White Sensation

These are called "opponent processes" because there apparently is a mutual cancellation of one verses the other when they are added together in the right proportions. This is very similar to now old fashioned devices known as "volt meters", where a mechanical arrow may point one way at the exclusion of the other--for example, (in the color terms of # 3 above) black at the exclusion of white etc..

In Hering's system, yellow, blue, red, and green can all be thought of as "primary" colors. In fact, any color can be derived from particular combinations of # 1, # 2 and # 3 above. While some may see Hering's system as somewhat counterintuitive, this system separated out in # 1, # 2 and # 3 above, actually describes in a very concise fashion the channels of the nervous system--the lateral geniculate nucleus (Hubel, 1995). These channels can then be understood to be wavelike systems.

Hence, in terms of waves in # 1 above, for example, a wave that is describable as "red" may be in-phase (and, thus, positively reinforced) while "green" is largely out-of-phase (and, therefore, dampened) or vice versa. Moreover, in the same way, "yellow" in # 2 may be in-phase (and positively reinforced) while blue is out-of-phase (and dampened) and also vice versa. It is the same with "black" and "white" in # 3, one may be in-phase while the other is out-of-phase.

Black and white might also be described by a positive or negative amplitude in red, green, yellow or blue. For example, a brighter version of any of these colors would correspond to an increased amplitude in that direction; a darker color may be a lower amplitude and so on. In this way, the lateral geniculate nucleus (a wave system) becomes essentially a wave transference system interfacing with the specialized resonance regions throughout the brain.

As seen in the "Brain As A Matter Wave System" text (at the link below), the brain in the wave picture will respond to particular resonance's sent from the sense organs. For example, the visual system responds to a certain shade of green if it is given the proper resonance's for that color.

So, if a particular combination of environmental stimuli (say of "light green") resonates the visual system first (in # 1 above) by "dampening" the out-of-phase "red" sensation while positively reinforcing in-phase the "green" sensation. In # 2, the yellow-blue sensation may point very close to the middle (hence, both may be somewhat dampened and, therefore, are neutral, canceling out each other) and in # 3, black is largely dampened-out with a lower average amplitude while white is reinforced to a greater degree in-phase by a somewhat higher amplitude.

This provides the overall sensation in the neural pathway of a lighter color--light green. Hence, the resonance's of # 1, # 2 and # 3 above can all add up to be light green! Other colors in the environment may yield very different resonance's in the brain creating different wave "phases" traveling down the lateral geniculate nucleus in the form of the opponent processes of # 1, # 2, and # 3 above.

The visual system within the brain, therefore, is given a different set of wave dampening or reinforcements based upon the different environmental stimuli (or different colors). The opponent processes of # 1, # 2 and # 3 above as neurological data are simply the language of the "waves"; the way that the environment communicates (and matches) its resonance's with that of the brain.

In Vision-- Darkness Is The Stimulus

It is notable that the visual system appears to function oppositely from that of the other sensory neuronal systems. This may be because of the nature of light waves and their interactions with matter waves. If the frequency is identical, a visible light wave may tend to entirely cancel out a matter wave (and this is a theme of the author's other works as well). So, it may be the case that waves of "darkness photons" provide the actual stimulus for the visual system.

To the visual system, visible light, therefore, amounts to a subtraction from the darkness background. Indeed, this is what appears to be observed by neuroscientists; that the current flows the most (is hyperpolarized) in total darkness--an observational reality. This phenomenon is known as the "dark current", an excitation of the rod photoreceptors in darkness. Hence, the visual system is in resonance in darkness!

Visible light, thus, tends to reduce the average flow of current to the visual areas of the brain. Moreover, it can be understood that this reduction in current may be equivalent to a resistance in the system.

Thus, given the equation: Voltage = Current x Resistance (V = IR), the voltage may in fact be generated by a difference in the frequencies between the darkness photons (which are indeed the stimuli as the experiments appear to indicate) and the matter wave receptors (f1 - f2) --or the change in the frequency between the receptors and the environmental darkness stimuli. In darkness, there may be a very large difference in frequency, hence, a large stimulus!

Visible light, therefore, generates an increase in the resistance within the system that can reduce the flow of current (the electron wave speed) at a given voltage level. In addition, it can be understood that the current or the electron wave speed arises from this difference in the frequencies from the receptors with the external darkness environment.

The visual system, hence, tends to function differently from the other sensory systems in the body, because it is stimulated by the darkness; oppositely to what one might imagine. For more information, see the author's extensive "Darkness & Blackness" work (and his many theories concerning this subject) at the links below.

(2) Motion

Motion can be defined as a noticeable change in the visual resonance's within the brain over spans of time. This usually (but not always) corresponds to a change in the environmental stimuli, which may result in inherent changes in brain resonance's. In some cases, certain drug reactions may have this effect as well. The perception of motion is simply a noticeable change by the consciousness aspects (or in the "Brain" text, the amplitudes) of the brain in these resonance's over time. See the "Brain As A Matter Wave System" for further details concerning amplitudes and consciousness.

(3) Form

All form is defined by the edges of physical objects in a given space. When a form (as defined by these edges) changes, that in turn becomes a motion. The brain understands and defines a form by its physical edges, in which the brain itself adds emphasis. This occurs even where the edges in actuality (since they are waves) can never be well defined. This process may be due to a peculiarity of retinal physiology called lateral inhibition (Enright, 1994).

"Mach bands" and "simultaneous contrast" are prime examples of phenomena that rely on edges where they do not exist. Both Mach bands and simultaneous contrast are optical illusions. The physicist Ernst Mach noticed that if bands of different colors are placed next to each other, the perceived brightness of each bar is not quite the same as the actual physical intensity. Simultaneous contrast is a similar effect where the perception that what you put next to a color impacts its perceived brightness. Both Mach bands and simultaneous contrast are presently described by the lateral inhibition of neurons in the visual system.

Thus, within the visual field, the visual aspects of the brain place an emphasis on what is not even physically present in the environment. Experimentally, this can be determined from measurements of the environment by sensitive light detecting instruments. Hence, to better resolve form and movement (perhaps, in the past for survival advantages), the brain has simply filled in any perceptual gaps with datum hard wired into the brain from its evolutionary (survival based) past. Another example of this is the blind spot at the back of each retina, a perceptual gap which becomes continuously filled in (by the brain) with the appropriate nearby stimuli.

This may be an important point: since matter waves (in this picture) do not have well defined edges (the edges, if one can call them that, should indeed be "wavy"), the brain simply adds (or fabricates) its own physical edges to all the external scenes. This resolves and better defines the objects in that physical space. It's little wonder that the particle approaches (in most all scientific fields) have utterly dominated over the wave viewpoints -- our brains simply prefer particles (and their edges) to waves and "desire" to see them everywhere! See the "Wave-Reality" text at the link below for more about the author's philosophical ideas on this viewpoint.

So, perhaps for survival advantages, our brains have taken what is essentially the "wavy" world of physical reality and defined it much more clearly by the addition of adding edges wherever it became necessary. In experiments, these edges physically aren't even there!

Without edges, reality would be utterly formless; similar to a person with very bad vision taking off his or her glasses. Perhaps, some of our distant animal ancestors had this difficulty, thus, they could not find or kill their own food for survival. This characteristic in evolutionary terms, therefore, would not have been selected for -- but the brain fabricating its own edges would be!

Hearing As A Wave System

The sensory organs for hearing are the ears. Sound waves (compressed vibrations of the air) vibrate the ear drum and these resonance's in turn bring the hearing centers of the brain into a resonance mode. This can be understood also as matter waves bringing other matter waves into resonance.

As seen in the "Electricity" text at the link below, the imbalance of the frequency of matter may bring another piece of matter into resonance. Thus, an electrical current may be generated when a difference in the frequency of one system (the air) interacts with another responding system (the ear drum).

So, similar to vision above (except in this case with two waves of matter), this can be understood as the frequency of the first matter wave f1 (which may be higher in most cases) minus the frequency of the second wave f2 (which may be lower in most cases), or (f1 - f2). This difference is then approximately equal to the electrical potential (the voltage) of the two interacting systems. Which frequency (and energy) is larger may help to define the overall direction of the current between wave f1 and f2. More generally, the voltage is the difference in the matter wave frequencies between the two interactive systems.

This is rather like two different metals causing a flow of electrons between them until an equilibrium point can be reached. In the case of hearing, adaptive hearing may result when f1 and f2 match and become harmonious. Adaptation is common in the other senses as well, when f1 and f2 frequencies are closely matched.

Thus, the environment of the Earth may have or give off its own sounds, but over time we as humans have grown completely accustomed to these sounds and can no longer hear them. For humans that have evolved on this planet, our f1 and f2 frequencies must always match at rest (or we couldn't hear at all).

Therefore, for an ordinary sound to be heard, the condition we call "silence" must be the condition of "rest" where f1 and f2 closely match. The Earth, therefore, may be inherently very noisy from some other point of reference, loud enough to calibrate the frequencies levels of our sense of hearing with that of the environment. So, the resting potential of our nerve cells is defined (and calibrated) by the resonances of the waves in the environment.

So, in hearing, what we hear is essentially due to a voltage potential difference between the higher frequency air molecules which vibrate (which is energy and frequency -- f1) and the lower wave frequency of the ear drum (or f2). An electrical current (defined as the wave speed of a negatively charged electron wave) then depolarizes (reducing the voltage of) the nerve cell, which in turn sends a wave disturbance across the cell resonating eventually the hearing centers of the brain. This brain area may then go into a harmonic resonance, created initially by the (potential) difference between the two frequencies.

Or, viewed somewhat differently; when the ear drum attempts by its own devices to balance out the difference in the resonance frequencies of the air molecules, an electrical wave is brought about from this interaction bringing the appropriate brain areas for hearing into resonance. This is not unlike a battery or fuel cell. A wave of potential difference across the neuron, thus, can be understood to be how the two wave systems (the ear drum and the hearing region(s) of the brain) communicate with each other. More about this subsequently.

High pitched sonic tones, therefore, are very energetic vibrations of matter (and the air is indeed matter). Such tones are not only high energy and high frequency compressions of the air, but also lead to a dramatic rise in the difference in the wave frequencies between f1 and f2 -- or the difference between the higher wave energies of the material air and the lower frequency sensory organs (the ear drums). If the tone is too high or too low, it may be beyond the resonant frequency spectrum of our brain regions, hence, we do not hear these sounds. So, it must be the case that too much or too little wave voltage difference may not generate a corresponding brain resonance.

The initial stimulus sent through nerve cells to the brain may not arise from the energy created from within the body itself, but may come about as a result of a change in the bodies matter wave energy (the sensory organs) compared with that of environmental inputs.

So, it is these initial differences in wave energies that generate a higher voltage stimulus (and an electrical current) and not some exclusively "internal" bodily process. Thus, the negatively charged stimulus (which is in essence a current) comes from the environment itself. This form of the generation of current via wave interaction is common to the other senses as well. See the "Electricity" text for further details at the link below.

This picture above differs somewhat from that of the conventional viewpoint. It is noteworthy that in the hearing sense, a resistance may result from the air (or wind) blowing in the opposite direction restricting somewhat the compressions of the air in one's own direction.

Perhaps, also, some hearing loss in the elderly may be due primarily to the resistance's that are created over time within the hearing system itself. What these "internal" resistances may be between the ear and brain connection is somewhat beyond the scope of this text. However, picturing hearing in purely wavelike terms may be a fruitful area for further research.

Smell As A Wave System

The sensory organ for smell is the nose. Minute matter waves aloft in the currents of the air set into vibration the neurons in the upper nose associated with smell. Presumably, the air has little smell of its own -- or we have simply adapted to the smell of the air --smell (or an odor) is, therefore, quite relative.

Based upon similar reasoning as above, the Earth's inherent smell (since we have evolved here) may have functioned to calibrate our sensory nerve cells in our noses to be in an equilibrium resting state, where the frequency of the sensory neurons match the environmental inputs. So, under normal conditions where any odor is not noticeable; f1 = f2.

Within the upper nose, are located these sensory neurons associated with smell. As in hearing above, an electrical current may be encouraged to flow as a stimulus when minute aloft matter waves at particular frequencies interact with these sensory neurons. The air may indeed have a smell, but these neurons are largely in harmony with (and, thus, have the same frequency as) the neurons within the nose.

So, only differences in these two quantities can be noticed and generate a negative stimulus current. Again, a current can only be generated by differences in the two frequencies.

Hence, a piece of matter that is held up to the nose (and, thus, sniffed) which has no noticeable or characteristic odor, simply does not generate a significant contrasting change in the receptor frequencies (f1). These are the conditions necessary to result in a stimulus current sending wave disturbances along the nerve cell to resonate the appropriate brain regions!

So, it can be understood that those pieces of matter that do have a significant smell associated with them, are those materials that can change the inherent frequency (f2) of the receptors, which in turn may resonate the "smell" centers within the brain. Again, in most cases, the stimulus matter waves carried in the air are at a higher frequency and the receptors at a lower one. Hence, only changes in these frequencies qualify as odors and can be noticed.

Taste As A Wave System

The neuronal cells for the sensory experience of taste are located on the tongue. They are known in lay men's terms as the taste buds. It is known that certain locations on the tongue react to the particular sensations for taste. For example, sweetness, sourness, saltiness or bitterness have their own particular regions or locations on the tongue itself.

When pictured in terms of waves, it can be understood that these taste sensations all must have their own characteristic operational wave frequencies. So, for example, all bitter substances operate within the same range of vibration frequencies and, thus, may oscillate the same region on the tongue. Since all forms of matter that compose the known chemical elements must also have their own discrete operational frequencies (and energies), it is not surprising, therefore, that each matter wave has its own unique taste.

Let it be stated that the author is not encouraging anyone reading this text to taste all the chemical elements (as doing so may be hazardous!), but most all elements do have a taste associated with them. It is notable that in the early days of chemistry, the physical tasting of chemicals was commonly used as a method of chemical analysis --no longer! It is simply too dangerous.

Where an element has no noticeable taste, f1 --the frequency of the piece of matter, must be approximately equal to f2 --the frequency of a particular region on your tongue. Hence, it must be the case that sweetness by itself is essentially a spectrum of discrete frequencies (and a location on the tongue) with its own corresponding brain resonance region or regions.

The same must also hold true for sourness, bitterness and saltiness. Indeed, all aspects of taste must have their own frequencies of operation and associated reactive regions on the tongue. Neuron cell connections then transfer these resonance's to the specific functional regions of resonance within the brain. Thus, the oscillations of matter vibrate the particular brain areas associated with taste perception. Again, it is expected that the higher frequencies are the stimulating agents. Higher, that is, compared to the taste bud receptors.

It is notable that smell and taste do affect each other. For example, if the nostrils are held in the closed position, the sense of taste can be dramatically reduced. This might indicate that both senses resonate similar regions of the brain -- there is an overlap. So, the lack of sensory input from the nose may tend to dampen also the taste regions of the brain, reducing the overall resonance. However, this comment remains the author's speculation only.

Touch As A Wave System

Touch is very analogous to a battery connection. Two matter waves (say, your finger and a desk) make a physical contact and what you feel may depend upon the physical properties of the desk. As above, these physical properties may be associated with different wave frequencies.

If the desk has a sharp edge that pokes your finger to the point of physical pain, the sharp edge (a matter wave) has made a better physical connection with your finger. Your skin is, hence, analogous to a resistance in this analogy. In this sense, the function of your skin is to prevent a solid connection. Thus, as mentioned above, note the equation for Ohm's law:

T1) Voltage = Current x Resistance, or: V = IR

Once again, a voltage can be defined as a difference between the (perhaps) higher frequencies of the matter or radiation stimuli (f1) in question, minus the inherent lower frequencies of the sensory organ (f2). So, the voltage to the brain can be understood to be: f1 - f2. See the "Electricity" text at the link below for more information.

In this equation; a high resistance such as your skin (if voltage is held as a constant) can reduce the current (the electron wave speed) flowing as wave disturbances to your sensory brain areas involved in touch. A bigger current equates to a bigger wave disturbance (depolarization) of the nerve cells. So, thick hard and callused skin may reduce the overall current (the electron wave speed) transmitted and, hence, the feeling of touch.

However, when one peels back layers of skin (for example) from a finger, the finger may then be very sensitive to touch. This may be because the resistance of the skin is now reduced, which increases the current when a connection is made. Indeed, when a finger is poked with a needle, a better connection is very suddenly achieved by the reduction of resistance (and the skin is pierced) -- ouch!

Therefore, the experience of pain may be a sudden increase in the speed of the electron waves (the current stimulus) that in turn oscillates the appropriate regions of the brain. Drugs i.e., pain medications, may work by creating a resistance and, thus, reducing the overall speed of the electron wave stimuli to the brain.

Furthermore, a substance that is very thermally hot, tends to vastly increase the frequency of its matter wave. In the equation for voltage above, f1 in this case is greatly increased, raising the difference between f1 and f2 (if f2 is defined as your finger's lower sensory wave frequency). So, the voltage as well as the current in the above equation are both vastly increased.

Since pain and sensitivity may be equivalent to electron wave speed (or negative current stimulus) sent as waves to the brain, any activity that has a tendency to increase the current, increases also pain and sensitivity. The experience of pain is simply extreme sensitivity, a relatively high current stimulus created largely by the reduction of resistance.

Your skin's resistance to "feeling" burned by a lit match may be somewhat insignificant compared to the relatively high voltage produced. Since the voltage (and negative current stimulus) are extremely high and the resistance (your skin) may not be high (or thick) enough, the speed of the electron waves, therefore, may also very high, a powerful depolarization sent by the nerve cells (as waves) to the "touch" regions of the brain -- ouch again!

The resistance in the circuit might be raised not surprisingly by the use beforehand of heavy protective gloves on the hands. In this case, the current (for example, when one touches the flame) to the brain may still remain relatively low.

It is notable that in this comparison with wave electricity that if f1 is very minute, in the case of an extremely cold piece of matter wave material (such as liquid nitrogen, for example), the difference between f1 and f2 would again be very large. Hence, in the difference between f1 (the liquid nitrogen) and your hand at "resting" frequency and temperature (f2), the effect would be very similar to the feeling of burning -- which indeed it is (ouch yet again!). Again, protective gloves in this case would increase the resistance and reduce the electrical potential and current.

Therefore, the difference between hot and cold may be the value of f1. If f1 (or the frequency of the stimulus) is very high (a very hot object), f1 may be very large. If f1 is very small (as in an ice cube) the object feels cold. Since the direction of the stimulus current in this text is defined by f1 - f2, if f1 is vastly less than f2 (as in the ice cube) the current stimulus flows in one direction, whilst if f1 is big (something very hot), the current stimulus may flow in the other direction!

Hence, at the extremes of a big or small value of f1, either sensation may feel like burning -- and in fact there may be little difference here. So, if f1 is vastly smaller than f2, the current may flow in the opposite direction, an electron wave flow from your skin to the cold stimulating body. So, this model may provide a physical explanation for why cold and hot sensations may be different.

So, in the sensation of touch, equation T1 above ( V = IR) may be rewritten as:

The Difference In Frequency Of The Interactive Matter Waves (f1 - f2) = The Current Resonance Or Electron Wave Speed To The Brain x The Thickness Of One's Skin (or other protective skin coverings)

Thus, The Current (The Speed Of The Electron Waves) = (The Difference In Frequencies -- f1 - f2) / The Skin's Thickness Or Other Protective Covering.

Using algebraic manipulation, it might also be considered that: The Skin's Thickness Or Covering = (f1 - f2) / Current

So, heavy clothes may keep one warm during a cold winter by increasing the resistance and reducing the average current stimulus flowing as waves to the sensory "touch" regions of the brain in a given energy condition (temperature) of the air. These mathematical statements above simply quantify one's common experience.

It is generally understood that there are sensory receptors in the skin called "mechanoreceptors" that respond to touch, pressure, pressure, stretch or movement. The simplest mechanoreceptors are free nerve endings in the skin that are directly stimulated by contact with any object on the body surface. The remarkable tactile sensitivity of the human skin, especially on the fingertips and lips, is due to a large and diverse number of these sense organs (Villee et al, 1985). It can be understood, thus, that the skin tends to inhibit the depolarizing connections of the sensory organs with the external wave stimuli.

Nerve Cells As Wave Transference Systems

It is notable that sensory (as well as all other) neuronal connections to and from the brain involve electricity. In living systems, electric current is generated by the movement of either positive ions (such as Na+, K+ and Ca^2+) or negative ions (such as Cl - ), all of which are common in both cytoplasm and extracelluar fluid (Levine & Miller, 1991).

Similar to a battery, the nerve cells develop an electrical potential or voltage. The neurons develop voltages because specialized proteins in their plasma membranes use energy from ATP (cell energy acquired from food) to pump sodium ions out of the cell as they pump potassium ions into the cell. The action of this protein which is called the "sodium-potassium pump", essentially raises the concentration of sodium ions outside the cell to ten times the concentration of sodium ions inside (Levine & Miller, 1991).

The nerve cells are not absolutely impermeable -- the cells tend to leak sodium ions and potassium ions. The end result of this is that the potassium becomes more concentrated inside the cell than outside. So, the interior of the cell becomes negatively charged with respect to its immediate surroundings. This is known as the cells "resting potential". As previously mentioned, the resting potential is calibrated by the environment.

When the resting potential drops in voltage, it is called "depolarized". If, on the other hand, it rises above the resting potential it is called "hyperpolarized" (Levine & Miller, 1991). It is notable that in darkness the rod photoreceptors are hyperpolarized and in the light --depolarized. The visual system, thus, functions somewhat differently than the other senses. See the "Darkness" texts at the links below.

The nerve cells have channels on their membranes that are gated--they open and close like gates in a fence. Electrically controlled channels are pores that open and close when the electrical potential across the cell membrane changes. Action potentials are brief changes in the membrane's electrical potential that sweep along the axon. Although action potentials are also called nerve impulses, they are not pulses of electricity that travel through the axon; they are disturbances in the resting potential that move along the membrane like ripples passing along the surface of a quiet stream (Levine & Miller, 1991). Essentially, this is because the action potentials are waves!!

So, once started, the action potential (like a wave) is self propagating, it will travel down the axon with no further input of energy from the cell. The action potential begins when the nerve cell depolarizes to its threshold. As soon as threshold is reached, large numbers of electrically controlled sodium channels spring open, and positively charged sodium ions rush into the cell. When the current flows, potential decreases. After the sodium channels have opened and then closed, their is is brief period of time called the refractory period (Levine & Miller, 1991).

The author could simply go on and on with this "chemical" explanation of nerve cells. The point of importance here is that nerve cells are wave systems!! The cell body is the "medium" for the electrical wave disturbance. Once disturbed by depolarization (a negative current stimulus), there is a fluctuation in the resting electrical potential that travels along the axon medium. This resonance eventually communicates with other nerve cells via the synaptic gaps. Synaptic gaps are how resonance's spread information from nerve cell to nerve cell.

The stimulus, thus, amounts to a electrical "kick" in the negative direction (a depolarization potential disturbance) to get the wave "going". Indeed, all waves (and a nerve cell is precisely defined by a wave) need a push or kick for the wave to begin its oscillations. In a nerve cell, this depolarization must necessarily be of an electrical origin!

So, the nerve cell in wave terms goes into a resonant state when it is electrically disturbed. One cell, then, brings all of the others into a kind of resonance. As described previously, the negative electrical pulse comes from outside the body; it disturbs the nerve cell-wave system.

It is notable that an electrical stimulus originates as a voltage wave from the outside differences in the f1 and f2 matter wave frequencies. The internal regeneration of the cell wave comes about using cell energy called ATP, the source of biological energy that powers the machinery of the cell. ATP in essence tunes the sensory system back to its resting frequency, based upon past environmental input. It, therefore, returns (and maintains) the system roughly at the frequency f2, at more or less the resting frequency of the sensory matter wave system.

Difficulties With The Senses Model

So far, the author has identified one minor difficulty with the "senses" model. It is the following: if, in the case of the sense of touch, both hands or other parts of the body touch each other, why (if this model is correct) do we feel anything? That is, if the whole body is a single matter wave system, wouldn't this mean that f1 and f2 should be precisely equal? In that case, when we touch our hands together, there would be no current generated at all; a difference in the wave frequencies of our hands, thus, no signal sent from the receptors to the brain.

Since obviously one hand does "feel" the other hand (or any part of the body can feel any of the other parts), how (if this model is correct) do these sensations come about?

The author speculates that there may be a method by which a potential is generated across similar vibration wave systems. Perhaps, different parts of the body resonate somewhat differently than do other parts of the body. Thus, each region may have a different f1 and f2 value and these differences allow one region to "feel" the other regions and vice versa. Indeed, there might also be instances when f1 and f2 do match from one region to the next, hence, one may temporarily lose these mutual feelings of touch.

Conclusion

This sensory wave model leads to the following probable consequences:

1) Stimuli are caused by voltages outside the body, differences in the frequencies of matter wave systems. Specifically, a difference between the frequency on the matter or radiation wave stimulus and the resting state frequency of the sensory organ in question. This difference can be understood to be f1 - f2. See above, or also the "Electricity" text at the link below for more information.

2) Resistances can lower the voltage and intensities of sensory stimuli. In the sense of touch, the skin is one example of a resistance. In hearing, the wind blowing in the opposite direction may be another example. Surprisingly, light may act as a resistance in vision. Moreover, pain medications may cause sensory resistances. Both external and internal to these sensory systems, there may be many other kinds of resistance to these voltages.

3) The resting nerve cells are in tune with our environment. Hence, the frequency of our sensory neurons f2 are calibrated by environmental inputs f1. When at rest, f1 and f2 closely match. ATP may provide the energy for maintaining resting frequency calibration of the nerve cell.

4) In vision, the visual system uses lateral inhibition to perceive edges and eliminate the perception of waves in the environment. The bias of the scientific community toward the "particle" picture of events has come about largely because of how our brains have evolved to perceive only edges. Edges, even where there are none, appear to take priority. These illusionary perceptions are in large part the remnants remaining from the earlier survival tactics (and evolution) of our species.

5) The primary difference between the sensations of heat and cold may be the direction of the flow of the current stimulation. This may be defined as a difference in the flow of electron waves from body to body, the direction given by f1 - f2 i.e., which value is larger. See the description above for further details. This idea may also have relevance for the author's darkness models at the links below.

6) Nerve cells are without any doubt a wave system. Every aspect of the design of a nerve cell cries out: "wave system". Perhaps, nerve cells may be eventually better described in terms of waves than they are presently by the "chemistry" approach.

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank Greg Leydon for his research assistance into senses as wavelike systems. Greg's parallel thinking to mine concerning matter waves, encouraged me to move forward and complete this text. The brain-researcher Gene Johnson also encouraged me in the brain area, recommending the "right" books to read.

Relevant Links

The Brain As A Matter Wave System: http://www.johnkharms.com/wave-brain.htm

Electricity In Wave Terms: http://www.johnkharms.com/electricity.htm

Wave-Reality: http://www.johnkharms.com/wave-reality.htm

My Darkness & Blackness Theories: http://www.johnkharms.com/darkness.htm ,

http://www.johnkharms.com/infrared.htm and http://www.johnkharms.com/darkhole.htm

Darkness & Blackness History Text: http://www.johnkharms.com/Black.htm

Go To HOME

References

Bower, B., September 29, 2001, Science News, A Science Service Publication, Washington D. C., Vol. 160, No. 13, P. 204 - 205

Edelman, G. M., Tononi, G., 2000, A Universe Of Consciousness, Basic Books, New York, P. 160

Enright, J. T., 1994, Applied Optics, Vol. 33, No. 21, Optical Society Of America, La Jolla, California, P. 4723 - 4726

Hubel, D. H., 1995, Eye, Brain And Vision, Scientific American Library, New York, P. 172-173

Levine, J. S., Miller, K. R., 1991, Biology, D. C. Heath And Co., New York, P. 811 - 815

Villee, C. A., Solomon, E. P., Davis, W. P., 1985, Biology, Saunders College Publishing, New York, P. 875- 881

Reader's Note: Proper References And/Or Acknowledgments To This Text Are Appreciated.