Counter-Hacking the Subconscious Mind

This chapter addresses the destructive impact of the media sphere on human perception. Humanity is currently facing an avalanche of cataclysmic events which have been abused by the media sphere to provoke fear and psychosis. This toxic propaganda has gradually infected the subconscious mind with false belief systems and negative habitual thinking patterns. To provide a broader perspective on some of the core working principles of conscious and subconscious perception and the role of the brain, there is a discussion about levels of consciousness, brainwaves, the RAS (reticular activating system), and neuroplasticity. The application of these principles enables the development of a benign and practical method for counter-hacking the subconscious heart-mind as an antidote for the catastrophic influence of the media sphere on human perception. The concepts of this methodology can be integrated into a PEG (psychecology educational game). Such a game holds the potential to increase global coherence by providing a timely yet symptomatic antidote for toxic intention in the media sphere.

Chewing and Cognitive Improvement: The Side Matters

Chewing improves cognitive performance, which is impaired in subjects showing an asymmetry in electromyographic (EMG) masseter activity during clenching. In these subjects, the simultaneous presence of an asymmetry in pupil size (anisocoria) at rest indicates an imbalance in Ascending Reticular Activating System (ARAS) influencing arousal and pupil size. The aim of the present study was to verify whether a trigeminal EMG asymmetry may bias the stimulating effect of chewing on cognition. Cognitive performance and pupil size at rest were recorded before and after 1 min of unilateral chewing in 20 subjects with anisocoria, showing an EMG asymmetry during clenching. Unilateral chewing stimulated performance mainly when it occurred on the side of lower EMG activity (and smaller pupil size). Following chewing on the hypotonic side, changes in cognitive performance were negatively and positively correlated with those in anisocoria and pupil size, respectively. We propose that, following chewing on the hypotonic side, the arousing effects of trigeminal stimulation on performance are enhanced by a rebalancing of ARAS structures. At variance, following chewing on the hypertonic side, the arousing effect of trigeminal stimulation could be partially or completely prevented by the simultaneous increase in ARAS imbalance.

Alteration of Mesopontine Cholinergic Function by the Lack of KCNQ4 Subunit

The pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN), a structure known as a cholinergic member of the reticular activating system (RAS), is source and target of cholinergic neuromodulation and contributes to the regulation of the sleep–wakefulness cycle. The M-current is a voltage-gated potassium current modulated mainly by cholinergic signaling. KCNQ subunits ensemble into ion channels responsible for the M-current. In the central nervous system, KCNQ4 expression is restricted to certain brainstem structures such as the RAS nuclei. Here, we investigated the presence and functional significance of KCNQ4 in the PPN by behavioral studies and the gene and protein expressions and slice electrophysiology using a mouse model lacking KCNQ4 expression. We found that this mouse has alterations in the adaptation to changes in light–darkness cycles, representing the potential role of KCNQ4 in the regulation of the sleep–wakefulness cycle. As cholinergic neurons from the PPN participate in the regulation of this cycle, we investigated whether the cholinergic PPN might also possess functional KCNQ4 subunits. Although the M-current is an electrophysiological hallmark of cholinergic neurons, only a subpopulation of them had KCNQ4-dependent M-current. Interestingly, the absence of the KCNQ4 subunit altered the expression patterns of the other KCNQ subunits in the PPN. We also determined that, in wild-type animals, the cholinergic inputs of the PPN modulated the M-current, and these in turn can modulate the level of synchronization between neighboring PPN neurons. Taken together, the KCNQ4 subunit is present in a subpopulation of PPN cholinergic neurons, and it may contribute to the regulation of the sleep–wakefulness cycle.

Hemodynamic Modeling of the Circle of Willis Reveals Unanticipated Functions during Cardiovascular Stress

The circle of Willis (CW) allows blood to be redistributed throughout the brain during local ischemia; however, it is unlikely that the anatomic persistence of the CW across mammalian species is driven by natural selection of individuals with resistance to cerebrovascular disease typically occurring in elderly humans. To determine the effects of communicating arteries (CoAs) in the CW on cerebral pulse wave propagation and blood flow velocity, we simulated young, active adult humans undergoing different states of cardiovascular stress (i.e., fear and aerobic exercise) using discrete transmission line segments with stress-adjusted cardiac output, peripheral resistance, and arterial compliance. Phase delays between vertebrobasilar and carotid pulses allowed bi-directional shunting through CoAs: both posteroanterior shunting prior to the peak of the pulse waveform and anteroposterior shunting after internal carotid pressure exceeded posterior cerebral pressure. Relative to an absent CW without intact CoAs, the complete CW blunted anterior pulse waveforms, although limited to 3% and 6% reductions in peak pressure and pulse pressure, respectively. Systolic rate of change in pressure (i.e., ∂P/∂t) was reduced 15-24% in the anterior vasculature and increased 23-41% in the posterior vasculature. Bi-directional shunting through posterior CoAs was amplified during cardiovascular stress and increased peak velocity by 25%, diastolic-to-systolic velocity range by 44%, and blood velocity acceleration by 134% in the vertebrobasilar arteries. This effect may facilitate stress-related increases in blood flow to the cerebellum (improving motor coordination) and reticular activating system (enhancing attention and focus) via a nitric oxide-dependent mechanism, thereby improving survival in fight-or-flight situations.

Biological Functions of Rat Ultrasonic Vocalizations, Arousal Mechanisms, and Call Initiation

This review summarizes all reported and suspected functions of ultrasonic vocalizations in infant and adult rats. The review leads to the conclusion that all types of ultrasonic vocalizations subserving all functions are vocal expressions of emotional arousal initiated by the activity of the reticular core of the brainstem. The emotional arousal is dichotomic in nature and is initiated by two opposite-in-function ascending reticular systems that are separate from the cognitive reticular activating system. The mesolimbic cholinergic system initiates the aversive state of anxiety with concomitant emission of 22 kHz calls, while the mesolimbic dopaminergic system initiates the appetitive state of hedonia with concomitant emission of 50 kHz vocalizations. These two mutually exclusive arousal systems prepare the animal for two different behavioral outcomes. The transition from broadband infant isolation calls to the well-structured adult types of vocalizations is explained, and the social importance of adult rat vocal communication is emphasized. The association of 22 kHz and 50 kHz vocalizations with aversive and appetitive states, respectively, was utilized in numerous quantitatively measured preclinical models of physiological, psychological, neurological, neuropsychiatric, and neurodevelopmental investigations. The present review should help in understanding and the interpretation of these models in biomedical research.

Register of the human brain acoustic area spectrum

Last years, there were developed methods based on the human brain and body acoustic signals application. We consider human brain micro vibrations as an ancient, highly reliable, relatively rapid channel of the central nervous system with all the organism cells and structures. There is offered a method of the human brain acoustic area spectrum analysis and registration. Experimental sample “Register of the human brain micro vibrations spectrum is developed. The model of the human brain acoustic area generation is offered – neurovascular reflex and related with human brain blood vessels smooth muscularity nerve cells metabolism. In comparison with classical EEG, it is demonstrated that acoustic encephalogram also reflects human brain neuroreflex activity. Piezoelectric sensors, which feature in silicone membrane existence, are investigated. Such type of construction allowed to register human brain mechanical vibrations in the gamut from 0.1 up to 27 Hz. Spectral analysis is specific in that signal integration time is 160 seconds. Meanwhile, 12600 spectral harmonics of the human brain reticular activating system were reliably extracted. For convenience, all the acoustic area spectrum of the human brain was shrunk into segmental frame of reference which is frequency structured matrix of functional conditions multiplicity “multiple arousal” of 24х625 frequency cells size. All the developed technologies and device might be used for the organism adaptation estimations, psycho-emotional conditions estimations and functional-topical diagnosis of the internal parts of the human body.