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18/19 November 2022 - Teatro Olimpico, ROME
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Instinct of death and knowledge and the light

  • Gatti M. G.,
  • Fargnoli D., Fargnoli F.
ABSTRACT

Psychic activity begins at birth with the reaction of the brain substance through the retina to the light. This discovery of the psychiatrist Massimo Fagioli, published in 1972, is supported by the theory of dissipative structures by the scientist, Nobel Prize, Ilya Prigogine. <<It is known, writes the scientist, that far from equilibrium new types of structures can spontaneously occur. In conditions of distance from equilibrium, a transformation can happen that leads from disorder, from chaos, to order. New dynamic states of matter can arise that reflect the interaction of a given system with its environment. We have called these new structures “dissipative structures” (…) >>. The dissipative structure is a structure that uses energy that comes from the environment to create a new systemic order. Human birth takes place in a biological system that is in contact with a new energy source that undermines the previous balance. The homeostatic balance of fetus is guaranteed by the placenta and the maternal organism: any alteration that may disturb this balance is immediately compensated. The photon interacting with the retina and therefore with the brain substance breaks the previous balance and makes it possible to emerge from matter a property not present in the fetus: the human mind. The stress of childbirth, the interaction of the newborn with the outside world, the dramatic biological changes in conditions of non-equilibrium, can become the starting point for the formation of a new dynamic state of matter. Birth is fundamental to understand the origin of the human mind: the brain of the newborn is completely different from that of the fetus that has no thought activity. In fact, there is a profound difference in the stimulation of the visual system between the intrauterine and extrauterine environments. Wavelengths of light are often indicated using the associated color and include purple (380-450 nm), blue (450-495), green (495-570 nm), and red (620-750 nm). In general, the longer the wavelength, the greater the penetration into the tissues. Depending on the type of tissue, the penetration depth is less than 1 millimeter for blue (at 400 nm), 2 mm for green (at 514 nm), 6 mm for red (at 630 nm). Only incoming light of wavelengths less than 480 nanometers is not transmitted into the uterus. Photons are present in nature even in conditions of apparent darkness: they activate new biological mechanisms in the retina and brain and start the lived time, an originally unconscious experience. Light energy acts on the retina and brain substance by setting in motion “epigenetic” processes that allow the reading of specific DNA sequences, previously silent, the so-called Immediate Early Genes.

A new understanding of the effects of light energy on the brain substance is linked to the discovery of melanopsin, a photoreceptor contained in retinal ganglion cells: it does not act on the processes and brain areas responsible for image formation. The non-visual responses to the light of the ganglion cells are very sensitive to the blue monochromatic spectrum of wavelength between 420 and 480 nm., which does not coincide with the sensitivity of the opsins of the cones and rods that works around 555nm. “Phototransduction” is a process by which the photoreceptors of the retina convert electromagnetic waves into a nerve signal. The ganglion cell is so sensitive that it is able to respond to a single photon and then activate even in conditions of apparent darkness. The discovery of the retinal photoreceptor melanopsin was motivated by an attempt to explain the presence of circadian rhythms in completely blind individuals. In the case of mammals, the circadian rhythm originates in the retina with a projection of the optic nerve known as the retino-hypothalamic tract, which reaches the circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. The luminous stimulus at the birth activates the “biological clock”. The light energy at birth allowing the reading of new DNA sequences, gives functionality to structures that in the fetus have only morphogenetic purposes such as the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the sleep centers, the limbic system used for emotions and learning. Through connections with the suprachiasmatic nucleus also the brain stem is reached by the light stimulus causing the excitation of all brain neurons. The subplate, which connects the sensory organs to the sensory cortex from the 24th week corresponds to the possibility of reacting and guarantees the ability of the fetus to survive once outside the uterus. The neurons of the subplate: at birth they are essential because through the creation of the neonatal subplate it is possible to build a new architecture both functional and anatomical in reaction to sensory stimuli.

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