Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jul:226:102465.
doi: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2023.102465. Epub 2023 May 18.

Cytoelectric coupling: Electric fields sculpt neural activity and "tune" the brain's infrastructure

Dimitris A Pinotsis  1 , Gene Fridman  2 , Earl K Miller  3
Affiliations

Cytoelectric coupling: Electric fields sculpt neural activity and "tune" the brain's infrastructure

Dimitris A Pinotsis et al. Prog Neurobiol. 2023 Jul.

Abstract

We propose and present converging evidence for the Cytoelectric Coupling Hypothesis: Electric fields generated by neurons are causal down to the level of the cytoskeleton. This could be achieved via electrodiffusion and mechanotransduction and exchanges between electrical, potential and chemical energy. Ephaptic coupling organizes neural activity, forming neural ensembles at the macroscale level. This information propagates to the neuron level, affecting spiking, and down to molecular level to stabilize the cytoskeleton, "tuning" it to process information more efficiently.

Keywords: Bioelectric field; Cytoskeleton; Electrodiffusion; Ephaptic coupling; Mechanotransduction; Memory engrams.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no competing interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Ackermann DM Jr, Bhadra N, Foldes EL, Kilgore KL, 2011. Separated interface nerve electrode prevents direct current induced nerve damage. J. Neurosci. Methods 201, 173–176. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Adams DS, Uzel SG, Akagi J, Wlodkowic D, Andreeva V, Yelick PC, Devitt-Lee A, Pare J-F, Levin M, 2016. Bioelectric signalling via potassium channels: a mechanism for craniofacial dysmorphogenesis in KCNJ2–associated Andersen–Tawil Syndrome. J. Physiol 594, 3245–3270. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anastassiou CA, Koch C, 2015. Ephaptic coupling to endogenous electric field activity: why bother? Curr. Opin. Neurobiol 31, 95–103. - PubMed
    1. Anastassiou CA, Perin R, Markram H, Koch C, 2011. Ephaptic coupling of cortical neurons. Nat. Neurosci 14, 217–223. - PubMed
    1. Antzoulatos EG, Miller EK, 2016. Synchronous beta rhythms of frontoparietal networks support only behaviorally relevant representations. Elife 5, e17822. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources