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claim:gap-junctional-coupling-partially-erases-informational-boundaries-between-cells-enabling-the-scaling-of-the-self-to-tissue-and-organ-level-goalsGap junctional coupling partially erases informational boundaries between cells, enabling the scaling of the Self to tissue- and organ-level goals.
Proposes a mechanism for how merging physiological states via gap junctions creates a new, larger cognitive agent.
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extracted_from(2022) · Michael Levin
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Communities (3)
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- Levin-led research showing bioelectric signals encode and control anatomical goal states in living systems.
- Levin-framework linking gap junction bioelectricity to cancer, planaria, and scaling of cellular Selves.
- Cells as goal-directed agents maintaining anatomical representations through gap-junction-mediated information integration; cancer as cognitive defection when collective Self boundaries collapse.
Concepts (1)
concept
- Gap JunctionsaboutCellular connections that enable bioelectric communication; form bioelectric networks underlying morphogenetic control and can be manipulated experimentally via molecular reagents.
Related by similarity (8)
cosine ≥ 0.65 · no typed edgeEntities in the same semantic neighborhood but without a typed relation to this one — candidates for new edges or unrecognized duplicates.
- Gap junctional coupling scales up the cognitive Self by partially erasing informational boundaries between cells.hypothesis0.918A mechanistic model: loss of ownership information on internal signals fuses cells into larger agents.
- Because cells cannot distinguish internally generated signals from those arriving through GJs, they share memories and bind into a larger agent.
- Explains the biological mechanism for cognitive scaling.
- Mechanistic claim for how collectives scale.
- Bioelectric networks formed by gap junctions scale cell-level homeostatic loops into organ-level anatomical homeostasis.hypothesis0.810Proposed mechanism for scaling of goal-directed activity from cells to tissues.
- Already supported by data in plants, Hydra, and humans, but broader cross-species testing is predicted.
- Frames metastasis as cells reverting to unicellular goals, treatable by restoring bioelectric connectivity.
- Suggests that the unified self emerges from bioelectrical network coherence, which can be reversibly disrupted.
Cross-corpus bridges (8)
same_concept_as · Nomic cosineExternal markdown files that talk about the same concept as this entity.
- aboutblank_kbHow do individual cell-level goals scale up into coherent organism-level Selves without central control?questions/how-do-individual-celllevel-goals-scale-up-into.md0.836
- aboutblank_kbHow do gap junctions enable partial erasure of individual cellular identity and support emergence of larger-scale collective agents?questions/how-do-gap-junctions-enable-partial-erasure-of.md0.834
- aboutblank_kbWhat mechanisms allow cells to scale up from individual competencies to collective problem-solving in larger and more complex problem spaces?questions/what-mechanisms-allow-cells-to-scale-up-from.md0.823
- aboutblank_kbHow does the scaling of homeostatic loops enable larger Selves to emerge from smaller competent modules?questions/how-does-the-scaling-of-homeostatic-loops-enable.md0.823
- aboutblank_kbCan gap junctional connectivity be used as a therapeutic target to reverse cancer phenotypes?questions/can-gap-junctional-connectivity-be-used-as-a.md0.817
- aboutblank_kbBioelectric Model Of Self Scalingframeworks/bioelectric-model-of-self-scaling.md0.808
- aboutblank_kbCan gap junction connectivity directly specify Self boundaries and determine what agents experience as stress or suffering?questions/can-gap-junction-connectivity-directly-specify-self-boundaries.md0.807
- aboutblank_kbGap Junctionsconcepts/biology/gap-junctions.md0.806