RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Optical polarization evolution and transmission in multi-Ranvier-node axonal myelin-sheath waveguides
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2023.03.30.534951
DO 10.1101/2023.03.30.534951
A1 Frede, Emily
A1 Zadeh-Haghighi, Hadi
A1 Simon, Christoph
YR 2023
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/03/31/2023.03.30.534951.abstract
AB In neuroscience, it is of interest to consider all possible modes of information transfer between neurons in order to fully understand processing in the brain. It has been suggested that photonic communication may be possible along axonal connections, especially through the myelin sheath as a waveguide, due to its high refractive index. There is already a good deal of theoretical and experimental evidence for light guidance in the myelin sheath; however, the question of how the polarization of light is transmitted remains largely unexplored. It is presently unclear whether polarization-encoded information could be preserved within the myelin sheath. We simulate guided mode propagation through a myelinated axon structure with multiple Ranvier nodes. This allows both to observe polarization change and to test the assumption of exponentiated transmission loss through multiple Ranvier nodes for guided light in myelin sheath waveguides. We find that the polarization can be well preserved through multiple nodes and that transmission losses through multiple nodes are approximately multiplicative. These results provide an important context for the hypothesis of neural information transmission facilitated by biophotons, strengthening the possibility of both classical and quantum photonic communication within the brain.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.