Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Synaptic Models/Synaptic Gap Model
Synaptic Gap Model
editAlthough I have previously characterized a synapse as being a pre-synaptic bud, a synaptic gap, and a post-synaptic sensitive patch, this is not always the case. It is, however the most prevalent case, except in immature specimens during development. Some synapses have an electrical contact that shorts out the synaptic gap, essentially bypassing the permease and ion channels, and linking cells together directly. It is currently thought that this is an attempt to keep the neurons in the clusters thus formed from prematurely learning before their developmentally appropriate growth period.
At the proper time, the electrical contact is broken and the synaptic gap becomes the operative transmission route. Further the simplified synaptic gap I have suggested where it is just a medium for diffusion of Neuro-Transmitters is also a hopeless over-simplification. There are many mechanisms at work in the synaptic gap that are not directly related to signal transmission. For instance instead of just secreting Neuro-Transmitters, the pre-synaptic bud, also often contains a mechanism that scavenges the synaptic gap for Neuro-Transmitters once they have diffused. This re-uptake mechanism is partly responsible for the development of certain anti-depressant and NeuroChemical Treatments for Mental Disorders. By reducing the re-uptake of Neuro-Transmitters they remain in the synaptic gap longer, and it is thought a larger portion of them eventually diffuse to the sensitive patch.
We are not sure, but we think that there might be chemical factors that affect the growth of new fibrils, perhaps even acting as guides to accelerate the connections between new fibrils and new synapse Sesitive patches. If so, it is possible that these chemical signals might act to increase the likelihood that neurons that fire together, connect to each other. Growth Factors, and other elements, have already shown that plasticity of the neuron is not just dependent on its internal state, but depends to some extent on the availability of chemicals that are produced as the brain develops. In fact it is now known that neurons are not the only cells with sensitive patches, and that some of these sensitive patches create communication links necessary for coordination of development outside the actual Neural connectivity.
It should be understood that any model by which we try to understand the workings of the brain at this early state in neuroscience will be incomplete if only because we don't yet understand all of the information we have been given by Neuroscience. It is no surprise then to find that the Neural Gap model is oversimplified.