Plasma Brain Dynamics (PBD): A Mechanism for EEG Waves Under Human Consciousness

Abstract

EEG signals are records of nonlinear solitary waves in human brains. The waves have several types (e.g., a, b, g, q, d) in response to different levels of consciousness. They are classified into two groups: Group-1 consists of complex storm-like waves (a, b, and g); Group-2 is composed of simple quasilinear waves (q and d). In order to elucidate the mechanism of EEG wave formation and propagation, this paper extends the Vlasov-Maxwell equations of Plasma Brain Dynamics (PBD) to a set of two-fluid, self-similar, nonlinear solitary wave equations. Numerical simulations are performed for different EEG signals. Main results include: (1) The excitation and propagation of the EEG wave packets are dependent of electric and magnetic fields, brain aqua-ions, electron and ion temperatures, masses, and their initial fluid speeds; (2) Group-1 complex waves contain three ingredients: high-frequency ion-acoustic (IA) wave-intermediate-frequency lower-hybrid (LH) wave, and low-frequency ion-cyclotron (IC) wave; (3) Group-2 simple waves fall within the IA band, featured by one or a combination of the three envelops: sinusoidal, sawtooth, and spiky/bipolar. The study proposes an alternative model to Quantum Brain Dynamics (QBD) by suggesting that the formation and propagation of the nonlinear solitary EEG waves in the brain have the same mechanism as that of the waves in space plasmas.