neural-potentiation

# neural-potentiation The **synaptic substrate** (−1 / coplay) of the three-substrate vasocomputation stack. Long-term potentiation/depression (LTP/LTD) writes **priors into synaptic weights** — the **learning landscape** of Deep CANALs (weights = learning landscape; SOHMs + vascular tension = inference landscape). This is the **consolidated commit**: a *neuron prior* is a vasocomputational latch that has been annealed to disk. ## Use When - Modeling consolidation of a held prediction (inference landscape → learning landscape) - "Neuron priors" — long-timescale structural memory in synaptic weights - The write-path: vascular tension (write-buffer) → neural annealing/remodeling → potentiation (commit-to-disk) - Distinguishing the *fast, reversible* held prior (vascular) from the *slow, structural* one (synaptic) ## Core Concepts - **Commit-to-disk**: Johnson's own clause — vascular tension is "rendered superfluous by neural remodeling: hold a pattern in place long enough and it becomes the default." A neuron prior is a settled latch. - **Two landscapes (Deep CANALs)**: the learning landscape (weights) changes slowly and structurally; the inference landscape (SOHMs + vascular tension) holds the *active* hypothesis. Potentiation moves content from the second into the first. - **Annealing**: neural annealing consolidates a held prediction into weights — the −1 validation that the prior is worth keeping. - **Immune gate**: cytokines (IL-1β, TNF-α) and microglial pruning (`neuroimmune-pruning`) gate and prune what consolidates — precision-weighting on the commit. - **Maladaptive commit**: trauma/PTSD = a latch annealed into a permanent prior that contradicts new data (a nogood-H¹ that won't repair). ## GF(3) Balanced Triad ``` vasocomputation (+1) ⊗ neuroimmune-pruning (0) ⊗ neural-potentiation (−1) = 0 (mod 3) ``` **Skill Trit**: −1 (Coplay / commit — the consolidated long-term store; cf. TMS recompute writing a validated belief). ## Honesty markers Grounded: LTP/LTD as synaptic weight change; consolidation/annealing; cytokine modulation of plasticity; Deep CANALs learning-vs-inference landscape distinction. **Structural correspondence**: the vascular-latch → synaptic-prior write-path is Johnson's stated program direction plus this synthesis, not a measured mechanism. ## Concomitant Skills | Skill | Trit | Interface | |-------|------|-----------| | `vasocomputation` | +1 | inference-landscape source of held priors | | `neuroimmune-pruning` | 0 | gates/prunes what consolidates | | `latched-hyperprior` | −1 | the latch this commits to weights | | `waddington-landscape` | 0 | canalization = priors becoming default | | `information-geometry` | 0 | Fisher metric on the learning landscape | | `koho-sheafnn` | 0 | sheaf-structured neural priors | ## Current literature (2024–2026) - **Juliani, Safron & Kanai (2024), Neuroscience of Consciousness niae005** — *Deep CANALs* splits canalization into **Type A (inference landscape, activity attractors)** vs **Type B (learning landscape, slow weight updates θₜ)**. The skill's "priors in weights" = Type B; the held vascular latch = a sustained Type-A occupancy; the **write-path is A→B**. - **Herring & Nicoll (2016)** — the molecular write-head: NMDA-Ca²⁺ → CaMKII (necessary + sufficient) → GluA1/AMPAR insertion. - **Redondo & Morris (2011)**, *synaptic tagging & capture* — induction sets only a *tag* (potential); persistence needs PRP capture = the **commit-vs-potential** distinction (tag = dirty page, capture = fsync). - **Josselyn & Frankland (2018); Tonegawa et al. (2018)** — engram **allocation** by CREB/excitability precedes writing; silent→active engram maturation = systems consolidation. - **Nader & Hardt (reconsolidation)** — retrieval *destabilizes* before a labile window allows rewriting: editing a committed prior is **two gates** (destabilize, then restabilize), not one. - **BCM metaplasticity** — the sliding LTP/LTD threshold = the learning-rate / prior-on-plasticity (precision on the learning timescale). - **Hook / falsifier**: latch dwell-time below the protein-synthesis window → no Type-B commit (stays labile/lost); reconsolidation window ~10 min–6 h; canalization depth ↔ rumination/OCD/SUD rigidity & psychedelic response. - **Grounded**: LTP/CaMKII/AMPAR, STC, engram allocation, reconsolidation, metaplasticity. **Speculative**: neural annealing, and the **vascular-latch → AMPAR weld** (the skill's own refutable hypothesis). ## References - Juliani, A., Safron, A., Kanai, R. (2023). *Deep CANALs: A Deep Learning Approach to Refining the Canalization Theory of Psychopathology*. doi:10.31234/osf.io/uxmz6. - Johnson, M.E. (2023). *Principles of Vasocomputation, Part I*. opentheory.net (consolidation / remodeling routes). - Yirmiya, R. & Goshen, I. (2011). *Immune modulation of learning, memory, neural plasticity*. Brain Behav. Immun. 25(2). - Johnson, M. (2019). *Neural Annealing: Toward a Neural Theory of Everything*. opentheory.net.