[quote=“citizenschallengev4, post:25, topic:6005”]
That’s where these discussion should start - rather than trying to imagine the origins of our mind through studying our modern Madison Avenue brain’s interactions with the world.
WOW, I have had extensive discussion and information sharing about the unconscious intelligence of bacteria. Quorum sensing is one of those fundamental languages of single celled bacteria, the insect hive mind, and more recently GPT3 AI.
I have posited that microtubules are the single common denominator information processor in ALL Eukaryotic organisms, as well as proto models in earlier Prokaryotic orgaisms.
The self-assembling microtubule has been around since abiogenesis itself. It is one of the fundamental organelles without which the neural network would never have evolved.
IOW, any organism that contains microtubules is able to process date coming from its environment.
The flagella (controlled by microtubules) is both a sensory organ as well as a propulsion motor. Microtubule spindle is responsible for mitosis (cell division) as well as the scaffolding of the cytoskeleton.
I have proposed that consciousness emerges from the interaction of microtubules and their bundled synaptic patterns . There is no other candidate that offers the numbers and inherent functional potential of microtubules.
The human brain alone contains a trillion MT and 125 trillion synapses (switches).
# The Role of the Microtubule Cytoskeleton in Neurodevelopmental Disorders
## Introduction
The development of the central nervous system (CNS) and wiring of the brain is an extremely complex process, governed by the communication and careful coordination of the neuronal cytoskeleton, comprised of microtubule (MT), actin and intermediate filament networks ([Menon and Gupton, 2016].
Newly formed neurons face many challenges as they undergo dramatic changes in shape and migrate their way through the extracellular terrain in order to establish connections with other cells.
Specifically, dynamic MTs play pivotal roles in creating cell polarity, as well as aiding in neural migration in order to establish appropriate neural connectivity throughout development and into adulthood. The elaborate MT network is integral to facilitate numerous morphological and functional processes during neurodevelopment, including cell proliferation, differentiation and migration, as well as accurate axon guidance and dendrite arborization.
The organization and remodeling of the MT network is also essential for developing neurons to form axons, dendrites and assemble synapses. Moreover, in mature neurons, MTs continue to maintain the structure of axons and dendrites, and serve as tracks for intracellular trafficking, allowing motor proteins to deliver specific cargoes within the cell.
## Regulators of the Neuronal Microtubule Network
The essential remodeling and organization of the MT cytoskeleton during neuronal morphogenesis relies on a vast array of MT-regulating proteins that have been identified over the last few decades (Figure [2]
(https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncel.2018.00165/full#F2)).
These proteins carry out specific functions to control MT dynamicity, fragmentation, stabilization, and intracellular transport. Many act directly on MTs to affect their nucleation, assembly, or stability, while others act indirectly by modulating tubulin levels or intracellular transport, producing downstream effects on neuronal differentiation.
The combined efforts of MT-regulating proteins such as MT associated proteins (MAPs), +TIPs and MT motor proteins, provide the mechanisms by which the MT network reshapes its architecture during neuronal development. Here, we highlight several groups of MT regulators and their respective functions that control the assembly of new MTs and their dynamicity, as well as how they regulate MT stability, fragmentation and intracellular trafficking within neurons.
Figure 2 . MT organization and MT-associated proteins (MAPs) in axons and dendrites. In axons, MTs form stable, polarized bundles, which provide structural integrity and serve as tracks to guide MT-dependent motor proteins. Axonal MTs are stabilized by several MAPs including Tau, MAP1B and DCX. The growth cone contains an array of both stable and dynamic MTs, which prompt growth cone advancement and turning. Various +TIPs accumulate at the growing MT plus ends in the growth cone, where they regulate MT dynamics during axon outgrowth and guidance. MTs of mixed polarity are located within dendrites where MAP1A and MAP2 aid in MT stabilization. The MT-severing proteins, katanin and spastin, are critical for reorganizing the MT network in both axons and dendrites.
p.s. CC make no mistake. I am a hard Atheist and hard Materialist, with one proviso.
Patterns may acquire emergent properties over and above the individual properties of the constituent parts. Hydrogen and Oxygen are “dry particles”. Mix a bunch together and when a certain density is achieved, the pattern acquires an emergent property of a wet fluid (water), or a dry solid (ice), or a moist gas (vapor), without any additional ingredients other than temperature shaping pattern density.
There is no difference between a live beetle and a dead beetle, other than the pattern of the beetles’ costituent parts arranged as a dynamic or static microtubule cytoskeleton.
See Another small step in understanding the origins of life.