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Miller WB, Baluška F, Reber AS, Slijepčević P. Biology in the 21st century: Natural selection is cognitive selection. PROGRESS IN BIOPHYSICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2024; 190:170-184. [PMID: 38740143 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2024.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2024] [Revised: 05/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Natural selection has a formal definition as the natural process that results in the survival and reproductive success of individuals or groups best adjusted to their environment, leading to the perpetuation of those genetic qualities best suited to that organism's environmental niche. Within conventional Neo-Darwinism, the largest source of those variations that can be selected is presumed to be secondary to random genetic mutations. As these arise, natural selection sustains adaptive traits in the context of a 'struggle for existence'. Consequently, in the 20th century, natural selection was generally portrayed as the primary evolutionary driver. The 21st century offers a comprehensive alternative to Neo-Darwinian dogma within Cognition-Based Evolution. The substantial differences between these respective evolutionary frameworks have been most recently articulated in a revision of Crick's Central Dogma, a former centerpiece of Neo-Darwinism. The argument is now advanced that the concept of natural selection should also be comprehensively reappraised. Cognitive selection is presented as a more precise term better suited to 21st century biology. Since cognition began with life's origin, natural selection represents cognitive selection.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - František Baluška
- Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany, University of Bonn, Germany.
| | - Arthur S Reber
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
| | - Predrag Slijepčević
- Department of Life Sciences College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Brunel, UK.
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Bolmatov D, Collier CP, Katsaras J, Lavrentovich MO. Physical insights into biological memory using phospholipid membranes. THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. E, SOFT MATTER 2024; 47:2. [PMID: 38206535 DOI: 10.1140/epje/s10189-023-00391-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Electrical signals may propagate along neuronal membranes in the brain, thus enabling communication between nerve cells. In doing so, lipid bilayers, fundamental scaffolds of all cell membranes, deform and restructure in response to such electrical activity. These changes impact the electromechanical properties of the membrane, which then physically store biological memory. This memory can exist either over a short or long period of time. Traditionally, biological memory is defined by the strengthening or weakening of transmissions between individual neurons. Here, we show that electrical stimulation may also alter the properties of the lipid membrane, thus pointing toward a novel mechanism for memory storage. Furthermore, based on the analysis of existing electrophysiological data, we study molecular mechanisms underlying the long-term potentiation in phospholipid membranes. Finally, we examine possible relationships between the memory capacitive properties of lipid membranes, neuronal learning, and memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dima Bolmatov
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA.
- Shull Wollan Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA.
| | - C Patrick Collier
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA.
| | - John Katsaras
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA.
- Shull Wollan Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA.
- Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA.
| | - Maxim O Lavrentovich
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA.
- Department of Earth, Environment, and Physics, Worcester State University, Worcester, MA, 01602, USA.
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