RESEARCH ARTICLE

Neuromodulation of Chemical Synaptic

Transmission Driven by THz Photons Citation: Tan X, Zhong Y, Li R,
Xiaoxuan Tan1,2*, Yuan Zhong1,3, Ruijie Li4, and Chao Chang1,3* Chang C. Neuromodulation of
Chemical Synaptic Transmission
1
Innovation Laboratory of Terahertz Biophysics, National Innovation Institute of Defense Technology, Driven by THz Photons. Research
2022;2022:Article 0010. https://doi.
Beijing 100071, China. 2Astronaut Center of China, Beijing 100084, China. 3Department of Engineering org/10.34133/research.0010
Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. 4Brain Research Center and State Key Laboratory
Submitted 10 July 2022
of Trauma, Burns, and Combined Injury, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China. Accepted 25 October 2022
Published 19 December 2022
*Address correspondence to: t15822082707@163.com (X.T.); changc@xjtu.edu.cn (C.C.)
Copyright © 2022 Xiaoxuan Tan
et al. Exclusive Licensee Science and
Postsynaptic currents of chemical synapse are modulated by multitudinous neurotransmitters, such Technology Review Publishing House.
as acetylcholine, dopamine, glutamate, and γ-aminobutyric acid, many of which have been used in the No claim to original U.S. Government
treatment of neurological diseases. Here, based on molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemical Works. Distributed under a Creative
calculation, we propose that 30- to 45-THz photons can resonate with a variety of typical neurotransmitter Commons Attribution License

Downloaded from https://spj.science.org on April 06, 2023

molecules and make them absorb photon energy to activate the transition to high energy state, which is (CC BY 4.0).
expected to be a new method of neural regulation. Furthermore, we verified the calculated results through
experiments that THz irradiation could substantively change neuronal signal emission and enhance
the frequency, amplitude, and dynamic properties of excitatory postsynaptic current and inhibitory
postsynaptic current. In addition, we demonstrated the potential of neural information regulation by THz
photons through 2-photon imaging in vivo. These findings are expected to improve the understanding of
the physical mechanism of biological phenomena and facilitate the application of terahertz technology
in neural regulation and the development of new functional materials.

Introduction
Since the 18th century, paradigms used to describe the nature
of light and its interaction with matter have gone through
Newton’s theory of light particles, Maxwell’s wave paradigm
of light, and Planck and Einstein’s theory of photons, until de
Broglie unified matter and light and proposed the wave-­particle
duality of light. When there is no strong interaction between
photons and matter, photons behave like a wave, and when it
has a strong interaction with matter (absorption or emission),
photons act more like particles [1–3].
Along come more and more scientists who believed that
consciousness was a matter [4]. The generation, transmission,
and coupling of neural signals should conform to electromag-
netic fields and quantum theory. The quantum energy states
of ions and molecules in the nervous system are important
factors for signal generation, amplification, and coupling. The
storage of biological information should be based on molec-
ular quantum states [5,6]. There are also those who believe that
consciousness has nothing to do with quantum mechanics.
They argue that the brain is a wet, warm system in which deco-
herence destroys the quantum superpositions of neuron firing
much faster than we thought, preventing our brains from act-
ing as quantum computers [7]. However, recent studies have
shown that terahertz wave irradiation in the low absorption
band of water can significantly change the waveform and emis-
sion frequency of neuronal action potential (AP) [8], and
effectively improve the learning ability of animals ~50%, while
ultraviolet radiation has not observed similar effects [9]. This
suggests that the regulation of the neural information by the
terahertz wave is a thermal effect, but the specific THz photons
may be dominant in the physiological process.
According to the traditional viewpoint of molecular phys-
ics, biophoton is generated during the transition of living mat-
ter from high energy state in the process of biological system
metabolism. However, due to the extremely weak energy of
biophoton radiation and the lack of sensitive detection meth-
ods, the relevant mechanism and significance have not been
clarified [10–14]. The concept of a photon as a particle also
leads many researchers to use it as a “massless reagent,” which
can react with molecules and be absorbed after collision, lead-
ing to a reaction of R + hv → *R, and the number of photons
can be calculated according to E = N0hv = N0(c/λ) [15]. In
order to study the interaction between terahertz waves and biol­­
ogical systems, a large number of studies have been reported,
confirming that the interaction between terahertz waves and
various substances is universal, and it can affect the physical
and chemical properties of both organic and inorganic mate-
rials. Terahertz is important for many biotechnology- and
engineering-related phenomena, such as simulation studies
on the influence of terahertz on water filtration [16], DNA
unwinding [17,18], ion channel permeability [19], and myelin
sheath information transduction [20–22]. For example, recent
theoretical studies revealed that THz waves can promote the
unwinding of DNA due to the resonance of THz waves with
the vibration of DNA bases [17], and it can also induce structural

Tan et al. 2022 | https://doi.org/10.34133/research.0010 1


Fig. 1. (A) Synaptic connection diagram. (B) Molecular structure of glutamate and
GABA. (C) THz can stimulate the neurotransmitter to release photons. (D) THz
photons enhance postsynaptic currents in  vitro. (E) THz photons alter neuronal
excitability in vivo (in the actual experiment, the brain of the mice was cut open).
The blue and red traces in (D) and (E) represent synaptic and Ca2+ signals from
recorded neurons.
transition and superpermeation of confined monolayer water
[16]. Besides, there were also studies that proposed that myelin
can serve as an infrared dielectric waveguide because the mye-
lin sheath possesses a ≈2-fold higher refraction index com-
pared to the outer medium or the inner axon with a certain
mid-infrared to terahertz spectral range. Nevertheless, the quan­­
tum mechanisms underlying their molecular dynamics and
chemical reactivity are not fully understood. At the same time,
the unique optical, electronic, and biological properties of the
different frequencies of terahertz also need to be translated
into practice in experiments.
As we know, in addition to the AP that has been shown to
be mediated by THz photons, communication between neu-
rons, known as synaptic transmission, also plays an important
role in neural signal processing and transmission [23–28], and
the intensity and precision of the quantum postsynaptic poten-
tial are very important to satisfy the conduction velocity of
neuron signals [29]. Activation and inactivation of neurotrans-
mitters directly affect postsynaptic currents of chemical synapse,
so neurotransmitters provide an excellent option to explore the
photonic properties of neural information. Here, we calculated
the properties (infrared and Raman spectra, molecular orbitals,
excitation energy, fluorescence emission energy, etc.) of 2 typical
neurotransmitters [glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)]
via density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent den-
sity functional theory (TDDFT) and found the terahertz band
with characteristic response. Based on this, we used the inde-
pendently developed quantum cascade THz irradiation system,
confirming that THz photons in the corresponding frequency
band can significantly change the excitability of neurons and
improve the transmission efficiency of nerve signals through
the patch-clamp and 2-photon imaging in vivo technology. As
shown in Fig. 1A to E, these results provide conclusive evidence
that photons are indeed one of the key forms of biological in­­
formation transmission and indicate that terahertz wave mod-
ulation (THM) has great application potential in the field of
biological information regulation.
Tan et al. 2022 | https://doi.org/10.34133/research.0010
Results and Discussion
The ground state spectra of neurotransmitters
Infrared spectra and Raman spectra are often combined to
obtain molecular vibration information. When polar groups
and asymmetric molecules absorb infrared radiation during the
vibration process, the dipole moments change, and the molecule
transitions from the ground state to the excited state, resulting
in the infrared absorption spectrum. In addition, the external
electric field of the incident photon will cause the deformation
of the electron shell of the molecule, and the relative movement
of the positive and negative charge centers of the molecule will
form the induced dipole moment, resulting in polarization phe-
nomenon, which is the formation principle of Raman spectrum
[30–33]. In density functional (DFT) calculation, we use a har-
monic oscillator model to calculate the vibration frequency and
calculate the second derivative of energy with respect to the coor-
dinate to get the corresponding resonance potential function.
The various functional neural networks formed by synaptic
connections between neurons are mainly maintained by a bal-
ance between glutamate-mediated excitation and GABA-mediated
inhibition [21–24]. Therefore, we calculated the spectra of gluta-
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mate and GABA. Previous studies [8] have shown that water
has strong absorption in parts of the terahertz band, mean­­ing that
careful wavelength selection is critical for neurotransmitter
regulation (Fig. 2A). As shown in Fig. 2B, both neurotransmitters
have strong resonance absorption peaks at 30 to 45 THz, while
water has very weak absorption of THz wave at this frequency
band, so 30 to 45 THz can act directly on the target molecule
without being absorbed by the abundant water in the biological
system. In addition, according to Raman spectra (Fig. 2C), the
polarization changes of the 2 neurotransmitters caused by 30 to
45 THz are very small, indicating that the physical principle of
activation by THz photons can be attributed to the characteristic
vibration between electromagnetic wave and neurotransmitter,
and the neurotransmitter absorbs radiation and produces elec-
tronic state transition.
Neurotransmitter excitation process
Neurotransmitters respond well to terahertz waves at specific
frequencies, including strong absorption of 30 to 45 THz with-
out water interference and subsequent molecular relaxation,
encouraging further investigation of the mechanisms involved.
First, by using DFT and TDDFT calculations, we calculate the
geometric structures in the ground state (S0) and the first excited
state (S1) to decipher the different conformations of the mol-
ecule under study. (Fig. 3A and C and Figs. S7 and S8).
The molecular orbitals involved in the S0–S1 transitions were
also calculated. In orbitals of glutamate, the highest occupied
molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molec-
ular orbital (LUMO) were all spread on the -NH3 group. In
orbitals of GABA, the HOMO was spread on the -NH3 group,
while the LUMO was primarily spread on the -COOH group.
The HOMO energy increased, while the LUMO energy decreased
with the strong absorption of THz photons, resulting in a sig-
nificant decrease in the HOMO–LUMO gap. As a result, the
HOMO–LUMO gap of glutamate decreased from 7.57 eV to
4.29 eV, and the HOMO–LUMO gap of GABA decreased from
7.31 eV to 5.09 eV (Fig. 3B and D). Thus, the small HOMO–
LUMO energy gap promotes subsequent molecular relaxation
and photon liberation. Meanwhile, vertical excitation energy
2

Fig.  2.  Mechanism by which terahertz enables neurotransmitters to transition to
an excited state. (A) Diagram of synaptic connections. (B) Infrared spectra of 2
neurotransmitters and water. (C) Raman spectra of 2 neurotransmitters. The orange
curves represent the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate, and the gray curves
represent the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. a.u., arbitrary units.
and fluorescence-emitting energy of 2 neurotransmitters were
calculated (Fig. 3E).
Excitingly, the excited states S1 of glutamate and GABA also
have strong absorption (Figs. S1 to S4) at 30 to 45 THz, so THz
photons are promising for simultaneous neurotransmitter reg-
ulation and rapid detection at the femtosecond scale by pulse-
probe flash spectroscopy [34].
THz photons enhances postsynaptic currents in vitro
We used an independently designed and manufactured pulsed
quantum cascade laser as the THz light source in this study (see
the Supplementary Materials for details). A THz fiber (core
diameter, 240 μm; numerical aperture, 0.27) delivered the THz
photons to the target region of the brain slice. We delivered the
THz with the following parameters: average irradiation power,
~30 mW; pulse width, 2 μs; repetition rate, 200 kHz.
To examine the effect of THz on postsynaptic currents, we
performed whole-cell voltage patch-clamp recording from
layer 5 pyramidal neurons (PNs) in acute slices of mouse pre-
frontal cortex (Fig. 4B and Fig. S16). Close examination of the
excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) revealed a dramatic
change in frequency and amplitude (Fig. 4A and B) and the
change was readily reversible (Fig. 4C). The EPSC frequency
substantially increased by ~64%, from 9.53 ± 1.19 to 15.65 ±
1.39 Hz (n = 11 cells; t10 = 4.956; P = 0.6 × 10−3, paired
Student’s t test), and the peak amplitude increased by ~46%,
from 9.75 ± 0.31 to 12.12 ± 1.55 pA (n = 12 cells; t11 = 4.681;
P = 0.7 × 10−3, paired Student’s t test). We also counted the
changes of EPSC frequency in different irradiation periods
and found that the effect of THz on EPSC frequency gradually
weakened with time (Fig. S15). In addition, THM significantly
changed the kinetic properties of EPSC, and the area (from
49.64 ± 4.45 to 56.79 ± 8.15 pA·ms; n = 11 cells; P = 0.72 × 10−2,
paired Student’s t test) and slope (from 6.11 ± 0.67 to 8.03 ±
1.96 pA·ms; n = 11 cells; t10 = 3.602; P = 0.48 × 10−2, paired
Student’s t test) were increased during THM. However, the rise
time (from 2.52 ± 0.11 to 2.46 ± 0.16 ms; n = 12 cells; t11 = 1.857;
P = 0.09, paired Student’s t test), decay time (from 4.99 ± 0.72
Tan et al. 2022 | https://doi.org/10.34133/research.0010
to 4.47 ± 0.73 ms; n = 12 cells; t11 = 2.985; P = 0.012, paired
Student’s t test), and half-width (from 1.79 ± 0.29 to 1.97 ± 0.39 ms;
n = 11 cells; t10 = 1.761; P = 0.11, paired Student’s t test)
showed no significant change during THM, although the time
to rise by 50% increased (from 0.61 ± 0.04 to 0.67 ± 0.07 ms;
n = 11 cells; t10 = 3.320; P = 0.77 × 10−2, paired Student’s t test;
Fig. 4C and Fig. S9).
Then, we conducted a new set of experiments and tested the
effect of the same power (10 mW) of THz and Blu-ray on the
EPSC separately. As shown in Fig. S11, Blu-ray irradiation also
enhanced the frequency of EPSC (~2.08 times; n = 8 cells; t7 =
4.697; P = 0.0022, paired Student’s t test), but the effect was far
less obvious than THz (~5.51 times; n = 6 cells; t5 = 4.390; P =
0.0071, paired Student’s t test). Besides, THz significantly changed
the amplitude, slope, and area of EPSC, but these parameters
did not change significantly under blue light irradiation, indi-
cating that there was a nonthermal effect of EPSC in response
to THz and the effect produced by THz photons is specific,
although it could not rule out a thermal effect. We also tested
the effect of THz on evoked currents, which was consistent with
the amplitude change of spontaneous postsynaptic currents,
increasing from 77 ± 4.09 to 147 ± 12.05 pA (n = 6 cells; t5 =
6.452; P =0.0013, paired Student’s t test; Fig. S12).
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Next, we examined the effects of THz on inhibitory postsyn-
aptic currents (IPSCs). In agreement with calculated results,
THz photons cause many significant changes in IPSC (Fig. 5A
and B). The frequency and peak amplitude increased by ~209%
(from 8.87 ± 2.81 to 27.44 ± 8.27 Hz; n = 10 cells; P <10−4,
paired Student’s t test) and ~54% (from 15.89 ± 1.89 to 24.47 ±
3.59 pA; n = 10 cells; P <10−4, paired Student’s t test), respec-
tively; the 10% to 90% slope of the IPSC rising phase increased
from 11.75 ± 2.61 to 34.83 ± 6.78 pA·ms (n = 10 cells; P <10−4,
paired Student’s t test), and the area decreased from 86.92 ±
15.91 to 65.74 ± 14.84 pA·ms (n = 10 cells; P = 0.9 × 10−3, paired
Student’s t test). Besides, other dynamic properties of IPSC such
as rise 50% time (from 0.77 ± 0.09 to 0.65 ± 0.05 ms; n = 10
cells; t9 = 4.478; P = 0.15 × 10−2, paired Student’s t test) and
half-width (from 2.81 ± 0.56 to 1.92 ± 0.33 ms; n = 10 cells; t9 =
6.002; P = 0.2 × 10−3, paired Student’s t test) also changed sig-
nificantly during THz application (Fig. S10). Similar to EPSC,
these changes of IPSC were also reversible and reproducible.
However, some of the dynamic properties of IPSC show oppo-
site changes to those of EPSC, such as rise 50% time, half-width,
and area (Fig. 5C and Fig. S10). We speculate that this may be
due to the different types and numbers of specific bonds that
resonate with different neurotransmitters caused by 30- to
45-THz photons, and the change of vibration mode and fre-
quency is also different, which is manifested at the cellular level
by the different dynamic properties of postsynaptic currents. By
recording miniature EPSC (mEPSC) and miniature IPSC (mIPSC),
we also found that THz photons changed the presynaptic quan-
tal release changes (Figs. S13 and 14). These experiments above
together establish a basic proof of principle for THz photons
in vitro, demonstrating that THz energy delivery indeed induces
neurotransmitter activation in the absence of any exogenous
materials.
THz photons alters neuronal excitability in vivo
Motivated by the above results, we tested whether THz photons
affects neural signals in vivo. As described in a previous study
[9], we first placed the fiber tip closely above the cortical surface
3

Fig. 3. THz activates neurotransmitters and the mechanism illustrations. (A) DFT and TDDFT optimized structures for the ground and excited states of glutamate and (B)
corresponding molecular orbital energies. (C) DFT and TDDFT optimized structures for the ground and excited states of GABA and (D) corresponding molecular orbital energies.
(E) Vertical excitation energy and fluorescence emission energy of glutamate and GABA.
following craniotomy, and the irradiation time was 60 s (Fig. 6A).
After THz delivery, we performed immunohistochemistry for
c-Fos, a widely used molecular marker of neuronal activation.
As shown in Fig. 6B, a large number of neurons in the target
area were activated, and the c-Fos–positive cells can reach layer
5 of the cortex.
We next employed 2-photon Ca2+ imaging to visualize live
neuronal population activities during THz application (Fig.
6C). Sensory cortex neurons were labeled with a genetically
encoded Ca2+ indicators, AAV-GCamp6f. After virus expres-
sion, we performed real-time (30 Hz) 2-photon imaging over
the entire course of THz application (2 min before, 4-min THz
irradiation, 2 min after; Fig. 6D). An example animal showed
that THz application reliably changed Ca2+ transients during
the application time window over different cells. Similar to
previous findings that THz photons enhance both EPSC and
IPSC, imaging results showed that the excitability of some cells
Tan et al. 2022 | https://doi.org/10.34133/research.0010
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increased and some decreased during THz application (Fig.
6E). Interestingly, within the same cell type, the pattern of change
seemed to be consistent, with cells that were excited being
suppressed and cells that were not excited being activated.
Out of a total of 270 neurons from 5 animals, we found 116
THz-activated neurons (from 0.62 ± 0.08 to 1.64 ± 0.12 per
minute; n = 116 cells; t115 = 15.57; P <10−4, paired Student’s
t test) and 58 THz-suppressed neurons (from 3.89 ± 2.37 to 1.69 ±
1.52 per minute; n = 58 cells; t57 = 12.11; P <10−4, paired
Student’s t test; Fig. 6F). The activity level for the THz-activated
neurons recovered after the THz window, returning to the
same level as before irradiation (from 0.62 ± 0.08 to 0.76 ±
0.09 per minute; n = 116 cells; t115 = 1.963; P = 0.052, paired
Student’s t test; Fig. 6G), and at the same time, although the
excitation level of the inhibited cells recovered after irradiation
(from 1.69 ± 1.52 to 2.18 ± 2.30 per minute; n = 58 cells; t57 =
2.280; P = 0.026, paired Student’s t test; Fig. 6H), it did not
4
Fig. 4. THz enhanced the EPSC. (A) Typical response during terahertz irradiation (shaded in orange). (B) Left: Physical image of THz and whole-cell recording from
a PN in prefrontal cortex (PFC) slice. Right: Example EPSC responses to THz. Gray, control (Ctrl); orange, THz. (C) Group data showing changes in frequency, amplitude,

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slope, rise 50% time, half-width, and area upon THz. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001. Paired Student’s t test and repeated-measures one-way ANOVA. Error bars
represent SEM. n.s., not significant.

Fig. 5. THz enhanced the IPSC. (A) Typical response during terahertz irradiation (shaded in orange). (B) Example IPSC responses to THz. Gray, control (Ctrl); orange, THz. (C)
Group data showing changes in frequency, amplitude, slope, rise 50% time, half-width, and area upon THz. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, and ****P < 0.0001. Paired
Student’s t test and repeated-measures one-way ANOVA. Error bars represent SEM.

reach the pre-irradiation level (from 3.89 ± 2.37 to 2.18 ± 2.30
per minute; n = 58 cells; t57 = 7.245; P <10−4, paired Student’s
t test; Fig. 6H). Note that the proportion of THz-changed neu-
rons detected in these 2-photon Ca2+ imaging experiments
was 64.44% (including 42.96% activated neurons and 21.48%
suppressed neurons), which was lower than that in the patch-
clamp results (EPSC or IPSC increased in all tested cells). We
speculate that this difference could result from the differences
in test subjects, i.e., the synaptic connections between a large
number of neurons are cut in the brain slice experiment, and the
neural circuits or interactions between neurons are far less
com­­plex than in vivo. Nevertheless, our results from patch-
clamp, c-Fos imaging, and 2-photon Ca2+ imaging are highly
consistent in demonstrating that THz photons can change the
activity of a substantial number of neurons in the targeted
cortical region.
It is important to point out that although THM is similar
to the well-known and widely deployed photodynamic ther-
apy, it can reliably induce photon-triggered molecular re­­
sponses in a precisely targeted and spatially confined volume
of biological tissue in vivo, and the 2 are fundamentally differ-
ent. Bio­­compatibility of nanofluorophores is an important

Tan et al. 2022 | https://doi.org/10.34133/research.0010 5

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Fig. 6. THz photons alter neuronal excitability in vivo. (A) General scheme for targeted THz photon delivery to mouse brain in vivo. (B) Left: Confocal image of a postmortem
slice near the THz target spot. Right: Magnified view of the left image (c-Fos is a commonly used marker of neuronal activation). (C) Cartoon showing the general scheme for
the in vivo 2-photon imaging experiments. (D) An example in vivo 2-photon image (averaged 100 frames). (E) Ca2+ activity traces of 12 example neurons. Excited neurons were
suppressed (left) and neurons that were not excited were activated (right). (F) Proportion of neurons with 3 patterns of change, 270 neurons from 5 animals. (G) Changes in
frequency of Ca2+ signaling in inhibited cells. (H) Changes in frequency of Ca2+ signaling in excited cells. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, and ****P < 0.0001. Paired
Student’s t test and repeated-measures one-way ANOVA. Error bars represent SEM.

concern for their in vivo application, but THM does not
require injection of exogenous materials, and its effect depends
entirely on the quantity and frequency of photons rather than
the properties of encapsulated molecules. It has good stability
and excellent biocompatibility, which facilitate clinical trans-
lation [35–37].
Conclusion
In this study, we found that THz photons can modulate post-
synaptic currents. It increases the frequency, amplitude, and
kinetic properties of EPSC and IPSC, which is probably
be­c ause THz photons can resonate with a variety of typical

Tan et al. 2022 | https://doi.org/10.34133/research.0010 6

neurotransmitter molecules and make them absorb photon
energy to activate the transition to high energy state. In addi-
tion, THz also increases the amplitude of mEPSC, mIPSC, and
evoked currents. Control experiments with Blu-ray stimulation
revealed that THz photons provide nonthermal modulation
of chemical synaptic transmission. We further demonstrate that
THz photons could change neuronal excitability. Therefore,
THz photons with a specific wavelength could be a new method
to modulate neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission
directly in vitro and in vivo.
On the one hand, our results illustrate that THz photons
could be used as a promising form of brain function modula-
tion and brain disease therapy. Most previous studies explore
the method of modulating brain activities by optogenetics,
which is currently one of the best methods to modulate syn-
aptic transmission. However, the optogenetics technique needs
to introduce exogenous genes in the brain, and it shows little
potential for applications in healthy humans. Our energy stim-
ulation technique in this study is fundamentally different from
the optogenetics because it does not require any introduction
of a light-sensitive opsin into the neuronal cells.
On the other hand, our results provide a new theoretical
approach to neuroscience research. There are many phenom-
ena that theories of traditional neuroscience cannot explain,
such as why nerve signals travel so fast in myelinated nerves.
A simple flow of charged ions cannot keep up with that speed,
while photons travel extremely fast. One study has established
a physical model of neural high-frequency signal generation
and transmission by quantum optics and electrodynamics
methods [21,22]. Our results in this study provide experimental
evidence for supporting the mechanism of infrared and terahertz
neurotransmission
The assumption that consciousness can be understood as
a state of matter, quantum or photon, has led to some interesting
interdisciplinary questions, from neuroscience to materials
science [5,6], condensed matter physics [17], and quantum
mechanics [18,19]. When the frequency of photon is equal to
the characteristic frequency of biological system, the photon
may nonthermally modulate molecular-related functions and
biological processes by influencing the electronic states and
energies of biological macromolecules [3,12]. At the same
time, the rotational and vibrational energy levels of biological
macromolecules are mostly located in the terahertz band
[38–41]. In summary, our results confirm the possibility of
using quantum theory to characterize biological processes and
the efficacy of THz photons for neural regulation, providing
a new pathway for intervention in neural signal generation
and transmission. A deeper understanding of the mechanism
of biological information may provide us with subversive ideas
and methods for developing new functional materials and
exploring the unknown nature.
Acknowledgments
We thank X. Zhang of State Key Laboratory of Cognitive
Neuroscience & Learning at Beijing Normal University for
support during revision. C.C. acknowledges the support from
the XPLORER Prize. Funding: This work was supported by
the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.12225511
and T2241002), the National Defense Science and Technology
Innovation Special Zone, and the National Supercomputer
Tan et al. 2022 | https://doi.org/10.34133/research.0010
Center in Tianjin. Author contributions: X.T. performed quan-
tum chemical calculations, electrophysiological recordings, and
data analyses. Y.Z. and R.L. contributed to the construction of
the experimental system. C.C. designed the study. X.T. and C.C.
wrote the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors declare
that they have no competing interests.
Data Availability
Data are available from the corresponding author upon request.
Supplementary Materials
Supplementary Materials and Methods
Figs. S1 to S16
Tables S1 to S6
References
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