Consciousness May Lurk in Our Brain’s Electrical Fields

Neural connections are at the heart of modern science, providing the framework through which scientists explain memory, perception, learning, and even consciousness. The microscopic contacts between brain cells transmit signals that account for various aspects of our complex consciousness—at least in theory.

However, Tamlyn Hunt, a philosopher and neuroscientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has proposed an alternative hypothesis in an article for Scientific American. Hunt suggests that the key to understanding consciousness may lie in the ephaptic field—a phenomenon where neurons interact electromagnetically without forming physical connections.

The concept of a neural code was first described by American scientists in 1943. They mapped brain activity, equating it to binary code, much like a computer (0s and 1s). However, this breakthrough didn’t bring humanity any closer to understanding the nature of consciousness.

“The most obvious gap in our understanding is everything we haven’t encountered on the journey from eye to hand. Everything I couldn’t tell you about the mind because we know so little about how nerve impulses create it,” neuroscientist Mark Humphries acknowledged in his 2020 book, The Speed of Thought: A Momentary Journey Through the Brain in 2.1 Seconds.

Researchers have long suspected that neurons communicate in ways beyond traditional synaptic connections. One such mechanism is ephaptic communication, where electromagnetic fields interact on a larger scale than the electrical impulses that occur at synapses.

Evidence for ephaptic interactions may lie in the retina, which some scientists consider a separate entity from the brain. Neurons in the retina use electrodiffusion rather than traditional synaptic connections, which allows the optic nerve to handle an impressive amount of data.

Experimental confirmation of ephaptic field interactions came in 2019 when Dominic Durand’s lab at Case Western Reserve University cut open a mouse hippocampus. The halves continued to communicate even when separated by more than 400 microns. The results were so astounding that reviewers demanded the experiment be repeated before they would approve its publication.

Further studies have shown that ephaptic field propagation is much faster than neural signaling. In gray matter, it occurs approximately 5000 times faster than synaptic connections.

While there is extensive experimental evidence supporting the role of synaptic activation in processes like movement, hearing, and touch, the higher density of information in ephaptic fields—along with their permeability and speed—raises the question of whether nature might rely on these fields for critical brain functions.

It appears that it does. Renowned UC Berkeley neuroscientist Walter Freeman noted that traditional synaptic activation rates couldn’t explain the speed of cognitive processes he observed in rabbits and cats over the years.

A growing body of research on electromagnetic interactions in the brain offers a compelling explanation for this cognitive speed. A recent paper published in Frontiers in Psychology suggests that ephaptic field effects might be the very mechanism underlying consciousness itself.