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Tripartite Synapse — Pseudocode v17
Companion:
tripartite_synapse_v17_biology.md· principle:logic_principles_v5. Model — every component runs the SAME THREE CATEGORIES in two directions: (ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY) × many, then PREPARATION — outward by DAY (world), inward by NIGHT (economy). ACTION = the defining deed (day: release/fire/respond/propagate ; night: build ⇄ release structure). RECOVERY = fast alter-ego, restore the ability to act (day: refill ; night: import + free material). PREPARATION = shape what's next, facing this scope AND the other; night PREPARATION REPLAYS the day ACTION (same machinery, no dopamine) to measure PARTICIPATION. "Evaluation" retired — a trace is a provision, not a judgment. Each category spans FAST · MEDIUM · SLOW. (1) EIGHT actors: LOCAL components (soma·pre·post·dend·axon·astrosynapse) · CELL actors (neuron over soma/pre/post/dend/axon ; astrocyte over astrosynapses) · SYSTEM actor (hypothalamus). (2) DAY/NIGHT is a TOP-DOWN context BROADCAST by the hypothalamus, which integrates FATIGUE (astrocyte-reported metabolic debt) ⇄ REST and emits the scope. Earned, not clocked; not local. (3) NIGHT ACTION is BUILD ⇄ RELEASE, participation-arbitrated: build (tag stands + participation ≥ MEDIUM; tag funds a slice, persists across cycles) vs release (participation LOW; frees material; tag untouched). Build/release compete WITHIN a component; material competes BETWEEN components. Two forgettings: structural pruning (low participation) · intention decay (tag unspent). TWO PATHWAYS: STRENGTH (possible_tag → dopamine → tag → structure) is dopamine-gated and belongs only to the significance-deciding sites — POST (primary), PRE, SOMA. ENDURANCE (endurance_need → budget_ceiling) is homeostatic, load-driven, NO dopamine. The relays AXON and DEND and the glial ASTROSYNAPSE are ENDURANCE-ONLY (no reward-validated strength tag); the astrosynapse's coverage build is driven by coverage_need (spillover coincident with postsynaptic NO), a homeostatic signal. (4) DAY collaborates (non-rival information; each acts so the next can act); NIGHT competes (rival conserved material) — but the competition is ADJUDICATED by collaborative replay (participation). (5) ASTROCYTE is the metabolic sensor (drives the switch, permits waking) and DAY primer (alpha-driven localized neuromodulation). Higher actors INTEGRATE emissions and BROADCAST — never reach in. (6) governing rule: NO actor authorizes its own restructuring — each is PUT IN POSITION by the actor above (holds an aggregate it cannot see, opens a window it cannot open). Act locally, consolidate hierarchically. Material recycles; ENERGY does not (the arrow of time). ASTROSYNAPSE now converted: D-serine = POST gain (not gate) ; astrocyte Ca-spike = territory-coincidence broadcast (integrate-and-fire) ; astrosynapse = volume/gain modulator, build⇄release coverage.
DAY AND NIGHT ARE A TOP-DOWN CONTEXT, BROADCAST BY THE HYPOTHALAMUS. The alternation is NOT a local per-component decision — it is a single context signal emitted from above and received by every component, the way the neuron's renormalization or the astrocyte's priming is broadcast. The hypothalamus integrates two competing drives — FATIGUE (metabolic debt, reported chiefly by the ASTROCYTE, which runs the energy economy) and REST (restoration accumulated during quiet) — and emits the DAY/NIGHT context according to which dominates:
SCOPE CONTEXT (computed by HYPOTHALAMUS, broadcast to all; CONTINUOUS — the one actor that never sleeps):
fatigue ← integrate metabolic debt + unspent demand emitted by components (astrocyte-reported)
rest ← integrate restoration accumulated while quiet
emit DAY while rest dominates fatigue (behave outward)
emit NIGHT while fatigue dominates rest (restructure inward)
The context is EARNED, not clocked: it is the integrated outcome of the fatigue⇄rest competition,
not a wall-clock schedule. Components do not each decide when to cross; they receive the context.
Why top-down and not local: behaving and restructuring compete for the same substrate (a component cannot restructure while busy), so the crossing must be coordinated across the coupled components — a pattern can only replay at night if its whole loop is in NIGHT together. A per-component local crossing could not guarantee that coherence; a broadcast context does. The switch is top-down; what each component DOES within the context (behave / replay / build) remains fully local.
THE FATIGUE⇄REST LOOP. Activity generates fatigue (the astrocyte accrues and reports metabolic debt); rising fatigue tips the hypothalamus to broadcast NIGHT; restructuring discharges debt and accrues rest; rising rest tips it back to DAY. DAY and NIGHT are the two phases of one homeostatic competition the hypothalamus integrates and broadcasts — the astrocyte is the metabolic sensor that feeds it, and (see ASTROCYTE) the discharge of debt during night is what permits waking.
every component → emits fatigue (metabolic debt, unspent demand) ↑
ASTROCYTE → integrates territory energy debt → reports fatigue ↑ (the metabolic sensor)
HYPOTHALAMUS → integrates fatigue ⇄ rest → BROADCASTS DAY/NIGHT ↓ (CONTINUOUS)
every component → receives the DAY/NIGHT context (top-down)
ACTORS ARE PEERS AT EVERY SCALE; EACH IS PUT IN POSITION BY THE ONE ABOVE. No actor authorizes its own restructuring. Each holds an aggregate its constituents cannot see and opens a window they cannot open, then BROADCASTS — it never reaches into a constituent's interior.
HYPOTHALAMUS integrates fatigue ⇄ rest → broadcasts DAY/NIGHT context (system, CONTINUOUS)
↓ signal
NEURON integrates its components' activity/weight → broadcasts (cell actor)
ASTROCYTE reports fatigue upward ; primes (day) + reallocates (night) (cell actor)
↓ signal (NEURON over soma/pre/post/dend/axon ; ASTROCYTE over astrosynapses)
COMPONENTS soma · pre · post · dend · axon · astrosynapse — each restructures ITSELF
within the broadcast DAY/NIGHT context
[ ASSEMBLY / NETWORK ] replay is INTERNALLY generated (spontaneous firing, below); the external
replay_reweight only BIASES which internal patterns are favored (cross-neuron
coordination), arriving like dopamine/glucose — it is not the replay itself
The two cell actors are structurally identical — same integrate-and-broadcast role, different constituents and conserved quantity: NEURON conserves activity/weight, ASTROCYTE conserves territory demand/load. Both have their own DAY (integrate, allocate in the gaps) and NIGHT (broadcast the restructuring window). The HYPOTHALAMUS alone has no night: it runs CONTINUOUS, always integrating fatigue and emitting sleep-pressure, spanning every other actor's day and night — the clock that never sleeps.
EVERY SCOPE RUNS THE SAME THREE CATEGORIES: (ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY) × many, then PREPARATION. ACTION the scope's defining deed (DAY: release/fire/respond/propagate — the cleft exchange; NIGHT: change structure — the irreversible build). RECOVERY the fast alter-ego of the action — restore the ability to act again (DAY: vesicle refill, refractory de-inactivation, Ca clearance; NIGHT: import material/energy, prime). PREPARATION shape what comes next — faces BOTH the next same-scope action AND the other scope. This is where what earlier drafts called "evaluation" lives: depositing a trace is not judging, it is provisioning. DAY-preparation stocks the tag (for NIGHT) and sets occupancy/thresholds (for the next action). NIGHT-preparation REPLAYS the action — re-runs the SAME machinery as DAY ACTION (same capacity/vesicle checks, same endurance deposit into the SAME trace), but with NO dopamine and the release as a PROBE, read as participation, not transmitted.
NIGHT IS A SEQUENCE OF REPLAY CYCLES (dual of DAY). DAY loops until energy/material is exhausted; NIGHT loops until the tag is exhausted. The rotation across scopes: the SAME physical release/fire is ACTION by DAY (the deed) and PREPARATION by NIGHT (the probe that replays it); the structural change is only MARKED by day (the inert tag) and ENACTED by night (its action). SOMA is the ignition point: its night-PREPARATION replay-fire propagates a replay_AP through the DAY PATHWAYS (soma→axon→pre→glutamate→post→dend→soma), self-igniting the tagged pattern.
COHERENCE IS MECHANICAL, not a checked flag: a pattern re-evokes only where EVERY link in its recurrent loop is primed (each component's own tag lowered its own threshold in RECOVERY); one un-primed link breaks the loop at the gap, so only patterns significant all the way around carry. The assembly that replays is NOT an actor — it is the coincidence of many components' own lowered thresholds propagating through recurrent coupling.
WHAT PERSISTS MUST HAVE EARNED PERSISTENCE. Night-RECOVERY drives occupancy (VGCC_active, AMPA_surface, possible_tag) toward baseline; night-ACTION's homeostatic lowering trims all structure; only what is rebuilt from a still-standing tag with confirmed participation carries forward. NIGHT ends when the tag is exhausted (well-rested — every significant pattern replayed and its structure rebuilt) OR energy is spent (overloaded — unspent tags carry to the next night).
Conventions
SCOPE = {DAY, NIGHT} CONTEXT = {AP, NOT_AP, NOT_SPIKE_TRAIN, bAP, NOT_bAP, CONTINUOUS}
THE THREE CATEGORIES (see logic_principles "The Ring"): (ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY) × many, then PREPARATION
ACTION the component's defining deed; deposits the fast trace. ALWAYS LOCAL to the acting
component (cannot be done on another's behalf — that would be signalling, not acting).
RECOVERY the fast alter-ego of action — restore the ability to act again (refill, de-inactivate,
clear). Day: restock private pools. Night: import material/energy, free trimmed material.
PREPARATION shape what comes next; faces BOTH the next same-scope action AND the other scope.
Stocks the tag (for NIGHT) and tunes occupancy/thresholds (for the next action). What
earlier drafts called "evaluation" is here: depositing a trace is provisioning, not
judging. RECOVERY and PREPARATION may be LOCAL or CONTEXTUAL (a neighbor supplies them);
ACTION is always local. A near-pure-action component (e.g. a channel) is ACTION-only.
A category names a KIND of work, not a timescale: each spans FAST · MEDIUM · SLOW.
CONTEXT LICENSES PHASE (context = the imposed condition; phase = the work it permits).
The context is what other components impose (a spike delivered or not, a train present or not);
the category annotation says which work runs. Contexts can NEST, and nested contexts run
ON TOP of their parent — a behavior is written in exactly ONE context, so nothing double-runs:
AP spike this step → ACTION
NOT_AP no spike this step → RECOVERY (restock) (in-train gaps AND quiet)
NOT_SPIKE_TRAIN no spike AND no train ⊂ NOT_AP → adds PREPARATION (runs on top of NOT_AP)
A process runs in the SHORTEST quiet its timescale fits: fast-trace decay and partial pool refill
in NOT_AP (they ride the train and set short-term depression); tag formation, full refill, and
occupancy read-out in NOT_SPIKE_TRAIN. (Components without trains use bAP / NOT_bAP, or continuous.)
VARIABLE TIERS (timescale = meaning; see logic_principles "The Timescale Ladder")
FAST (ms–s) immediate response fast_trace
MEDIUM (s–min) occupancy + evidence possible_tag · endurance_need · VGCC_active · AMPA_surface · RRP
SLOW (hr) consolidation bridge tag
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
PERSISTENT (NIGHT) capacity (the ceilings) structure · budget_ceiling
energy (not recoverable) · material (recoverable)
THE DAY STRENGTH CLIMB (same three-tier averaging in every component):
1. each ACTION leaves a fast_trace (FAST).
2. the running AVERAGE of fast_traces over SECONDS fills occupancy → short-term strength
(VGCC_active in PRE, AMPA_surface in POST, …); a LOW average lets occupancy drift back (STD).
3. the AVERAGE-OF-THE-AVERAGE over MINUTES (possible_tag), in coincidence with dopamine, raises
the TAG (SLOW) — the token passed to NIGHT. At night the tag is spent to modify structure
(the persistent version of the same strength the occupancy held transiently).
So occupancy is the fast/medium memory of participation; the tag is its dopamine-validated,
night-consolidatable distillate. Same climb, same three tiers, in all six components.
DAY budget · fast_trace · possible_tag · endurance_need
BRIDGE tag (POST: CANDIDATE→STABLE)
NIGHT energy (not recoverable) · material (recoverable) · structure · budget_ceiling
LOCALITY only local state + arrived signals; no component reads another's internal state.
CLEFT MESSAGE CHANNELS SHIPMENT CHANNELS (transit-delayed)
glutamate PRE → POST, ASTRO soma_ship_dend SOMA→DEND
astro_Dserine ASTRO → POST soma_ship_axon SOMA→AXON
retro_NO POST → PRE (+) dend_ship_post DEND→POST
retro_eCB POST → PRE (−) axon_ship_pre AXON→PRE
Primitives (return the increment; caller applies it)
sat(x, K) = x / (K + x)
fill(pool, ceiling, rate, cost, budget) -> amount: // PRIVATE reserve, rate-limited (implicit τ)
amount = min(rate, ceiling - pool)·Δt; budget -= amount·cost; return amount
refill(c from supply S) -> amount: // CONTESTED supply, gap-bounded
demand = c.budget_ceiling - c.budget
factor = min(1, S / (Σ demand over components on S + ε)); S -= demand·factor
return demand·factor
ship(from_budget, demand_sig, frac, cost) -> amount: // emit into transit (not to target directly)
amount = min(from_budget·frac, demand_sig); from_budget -= amount·(1+ship_cost); return amount
transit(channel, τ_transport) -> arrival: // delivers in-transit cargo over τ
arrival = channel·(Δt/τ_transport); channel -= arrival; return arrival
SHARED parameters
dopamine NE ACh // organism broadcasts (external)
replay_reweight[·] // assembly/network replay re-weighting (external, NIGHT)
glucose geometry // physical (external)
scope_context ∈ {DAY, NIGHT} // BROADCAST by HYPOTHALAMUS (top-down; the switch, read by all)
fatigue_gain rest_gain // hypothalamus fatigue⇄rest integration weights
elig dop_thr tag_thr tag_expiry // strength gates (universal)
traj_thr endur_thr // endurance gates (universal)
ship_cost // transport overhead (all shipments)
{dend,axon,pre,post}_ship_frac // DAY budget-shipment fractions
τ_transport_{dend,axon,spine,bouton} // shipment transit times (distance-dependent)
ε
NIGHT parameters (consolidation only)
slot_batch cap_batch f_cap // per-CYCLE commit/allocation sizes / endurance fraction
night_energy_ceiling // total energy a single night can spend (supply bound)
Δt_cycle // duration of one NIGHT cycle (recovery→preparation→action)
maint_frac cap_frac // maintenance allocation
decay_rate capacity_decay_rate recycle // passive ceiling decay + material recovery
homeostatic_ceiling assembly_cost biogenesis_cost maint_cost
f_dend f_axon f_spine f_bouton // per-cycle material/energy ship fractions (down the chain)
downscale_factor // per-cycle multiplicative occupancy reset (<1), night RECOVERY
neuron_weight_ceiling // renormalization target (broadcast constraint)
// ── NIGHT (RECOVERY = import/prime · PREPARATION = replay probe · ACTION = restructure) ──
spont_thr_base thr_gain // spontaneous threshold = base − gain×own_tag (night RECOVERY prime)
prime_thr prime_gain // tag threshold to raise VGCC, and the gain (night RECOVERY)
release_rate homeostatic_floor // night RELEASE: shed rate + floor structure never pruned below
intrinsic_fluctuation() // intrinsic sub-threshold noise (the night's ignition source)
mini_flux mini_Ca() // spontaneous mini release size + its Ca deposit (REM probe)
level(·) → {LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH} // reads fast_trace as circuit participation (REM, no dopamine)
replay_AP // propagated re-evocation spike (soma → axon/dend, self-igniting)
LOCAL COMPONENTS
Each behaves within the broadcast DAY context and restructures within the broadcast NIGHT context (see Conventions: the transition rule).
DAY | …/NIGHT | …label local states, not a clock.
PRE
The presynaptic bouton releases neurotransmitter and gathers evidence about whether that release was worth strengthening and worth sustaining. Like every component it runs the three categories — (ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY) × many, then PREPARATION — in two directions: outward by DAY (against the cleft), inward by NIGHT (against the economy).
DAY · ACTION (the AP) — the bouton releases. The amount released depends on residual
calcium (the fast trace, set by this spike), the current VGCC coupling occupancy (how
tightly channels are coupled right now, bounded by structure), the two retrograde messages
(retro_eCB brakes, retro_NO confirms release reached a responsive target), and the
availability of fuel and vesicles. The action deposits the fast trace the rest of the turn
reads. Two shortfalls read differently: a fuel shortfall on a succeeding release is endurance
evidence; an empty pool with fuel to spare is ordinary short-term depression.
DAY · RECOVERY (between spikes) — restock to release again. In the inter-spike gaps the bouton refills its vesicle pool and lets the fast trace relax — the fast alter-ego of release, riding the train, and the release-vs-refill race is what sets short-term depression.
DAY · PREPARATION (train passed) — shape the next release AND the night. Reading the accumulated
fast trace, the bouton climbs eligibility (possible_tag) and, on the dopamine coincidence, the
tag — the token stocked for the night (this is provisioning, not judging). It also latches the
retrograde messages, tightens its VGCC coupling from eligibility (reversible short-term potentiation,
no dopamine, bounded by structure), and refills budget toward the next demand.
NIGHT — the same three categories as DAY, at a slower timescale, turned inward. Every scope runs the same shape: an alternation of ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY (many times), then PREPARATION. By DAY that is (release ⇄ vesicle-refill) × many spikes, then preparation (climb the tag, set VGCC, refill, thresholds). By NIGHT it is (restructure ⇄ material-import) × many cycles, then preparation (the probe-release that measures participation to shape the next restructuring). ACTION is the scope's defining deed; RECOVERY is its fast alter-ego, restoring the capacity to act again; PREPARATION follows the alternation to shape what comes next — and faces both the next same-scope action and the OTHER scope (which is where what earlier drafts called "evaluation" lives: stocking the tag is preparing for night, not judging the present). Note the rotation: NT release is ACTION by day and PREPARATION by night; the structural change is only marked by day (the tag) and enacted by night. The bouton is not a sink — by night it emits inward and upward.
// PARAMETERS K_release · release_cost · fusion_cost · vatpase_cost · spillover · brake
// stp_thr · coupling_gain · coupling_drift · VGCC_baseline
// INTERFACE
// EMIT glutamate → POST, ASTRO
// RECEIVE retro_NO, retro_eCB ← POST (signals latched in PREPARATION; pools refill in RECOVERY/PREPARATION)
// READ glutamate (own cleft, autobrake) ; dopamine (gates tag)
// OWN pre_structure{slot_ceiling, VGCC_coupling, refill_ceiling} ; pre_budget_ceiling
// VGCC_active (occupancy: current coupling, filled toward VGCC_coupling ceiling)
// SUPPLY astro_lactate[syn] ← ASTRO ; axon_ship_pre ← AXON ; pre_material ← AXON(NIGHT) ; pre_energy ← SOMA(NIGHT)
// EMERGENCY shockwave_lockdown ← ASTRO
//
// TRACE CREATION MODES (every trace: trace += input·Δt − trace·(Δt/τ_decay))
// impulse input = quantum·δ(event) — a point event; no rise time, τ = decay only (FAST)
// accumulate input = rate(condition)·Δt — ramps while a condition holds; τ = rise AND decay (MEDIUM/SLOW)
//
// THE THREE CATEGORIES (same at DAY and NIGHT; here at the DAY timescale, subject = the cleft):
// ACTION release NT (the defining deed) — context AP
// RECOVERY restore the ability to release again: vesicle refill — the fast alter-ego of AP,
// runs in the inter-spike gaps (NOT_AP), riding the train, setting STD depth
// PREPARATION shape what comes next — climb the tag (for NIGHT), set VGCC, refill budget,
// thresholds, decay — runs once the train subsides (NOT_SPIKE_TRAIN ⊂ NOT_AP)
// Pattern per scope: (ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY) × many spikes, then PREPARATION.
// Contexts nest (NOT_SPIKE_TRAIN ⊂ NOT_AP); each behavior in exactly ONE block.
// ===== ACTION =====
DAY | AP: // release into the cleft (the defining deed)
// deposit the fast trace THIS action leaves (FAST · impulse)
pre_fast_trace += spike_Ca(pre_structure.VGCC_coupling)·δ(spike)
drive = sat(pre_fast_trace × VGCC_active, K_release) × (1 - retro_eCB_local)
if pre_budget < release_cost: // FUEL shortfall → endurance evidence
suppress(NT_flux)
if pre_fast_trace > traj_thr: // MEDIUM · accumulate (a PREPARATION deposit)
pre_endurance_need += pre_fast_trace × (1 + retro_NO_local)·Δt
exit
if RRP == 0: suppress(NT_flux); exit // OCCUPANCY shortfall → STD (not endurance)
NT_flux = RRP × drive; RRP -= NT_flux·Δt; pre_budget -= NT_flux·fusion_cost
glutamate += NT_flux·Δt // EMIT glutamate → POST, ASTRO
if glutamate > spillover: drive *= brake // own-cleft autobrake
// ===== RECOVERY (alter-ego of ACTION; runs in the inter-spike gaps, rides the train) =====
DAY | NOT_AP: // restore the ability to release again
RRP += fill(RRP, pre_structure.slot_ceiling, pre_structure.refill_ceiling, vatpase_cost, pre_budget)
pre_fast_trace *= decay(100ms) // FAST — the trace relaxes between spikes
// (partial refill vs release is the STD race — this is recovery keeping pace with action)
// ===== PREPARATION (shape what comes next; faces the next train AND the NIGHT) =====
DAY | NOT_SPIKE_TRAIN: // sustained quiet; ⊂ NOT_AP
retro_NO_local = retro_NO; retro_eCB_local = retro_eCB // latch arrived signals
// for NIGHT: climb the tag (stock the token the night-action will spend) (MEDIUM→SLOW accumulate)
if pre_fast_trace > elig: pre_possible_tag += pre_fast_trace·Δt
if dopamine > dop_thr and pre_possible_tag > tag_thr:
pre_tag += dopamine × pre_possible_tag·Δt
// for the NEXT TRAIN: STP read-out (eligibility → coupling readiness; NO dopamine; drifts back)
if pre_possible_tag > stp_thr:
VGCC_active = min(VGCC_active + coupling_gain × pre_possible_tag, pre_structure.VGCC_coupling)
else:
VGCC_active = max(VGCC_active - coupling_drift·Δt, VGCC_baseline) // STD = un-honored decay
// for the NEXT TRAIN: full budget refill toward next demand (forward-facing)
pre_budget += refill(pre from astro_lactate[syn] + transit(axon_ship_pre, τ_transport_bouton))
// settle the medium/slow stocks (fast-trace decay already ran in RECOVERY; not repeated)
pre_possible_tag *= decay(s); pre_endurance_need *= decay(min) // MEDIUM
pre_tag *= decay(hr) // SLOW
dopamine *= decay(ms); retro_NO *= decay(s); retro_eCB *= decay(s)
// ── NIGHT: SAME three categories, consolidation timescale, subject = the pattern. The rhythm is
// (ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY) × many, then PREPARATION, then again — like DAY's (release ⇄ refill) × many
// → prep. Two competitions at two loci: WITHIN action, build vs release contend over the
// component's own structure (participation is the arbiter); WITHIN recovery, THIS component vs
// OTHERS contend for shared material/energy. A category spans all THREE timescales (fast/med/slow).
// ACTION change structure — BUILD (participation high + tag stands; tag funds it, a slice
// per cycle so the tag persists across cycles) ⇄ RELEASE (participation LOW; frees
// material; tag untouched). Both always possible; participation selects direction.
// RECOVERY restore the ability to build: acquire material/energy from the shared pool AND
// receive freed material — in CONTENTION with other components.
// PREPARATION replay the release as a probe (SAME machinery as day ACTION) to measure
// participation; itself multi-timescale: probe⇄restock (fast), VGCC/threshold
// prime from the tag (medium), tag settle (slow).
// Two independent forgettings: structural pruning ← low participation (release); intention decay
// ← tag decaying unspent. Loops until the tag is spent.
// ===== ACTION (build ⇄ release; participation gates direction; tag funds build, persists across cycles) =====
NIGHT | build or release: // the night's defining deed (both directions)
// BUILD (participation confirmed AND tag stands): spend a SLICE of the tag — persists next cycle
if rest_permission and pre_tag > tag_expiry and pre_participation ≥ MEDIUM:
Δ = min(slot_batch, pre_material, pre_energy·f_cap, pre_tag) × pre_participation
pre_structure += Δ; pre_material -= Δ; pre_energy -= Δ·assembly_cost
pre_tag -= Δ // SLICE only — tag survives for successive cycles
if pre_endurance_need > endur_thr: // endurance capacity builds on the same act
Δ' = min(cap_batch, pre_material·f_cap, pre_energy·f_cap)
pre_budget_ceiling += Δ'; pre_material -= Δ'; pre_energy -= Δ'·biogenesis_cost
pre_endurance_need -= Δ'
// RELEASE (participation LOW): shed structure, FREE material back to the shared pool; tag untouched
else if pre_participation == LOW:
shed = release_rate × max(pre_structure - homeostatic_floor, 0)
pre_structure -= shed; pre_freed_material += shed·recycle // freed → contested pool (RECOVERY)
pre_budget_ceiling -= capacity_decay_rate·Δt_cycle
// else (tag present but participation not confirmed this cycle): HOLD — tag waits for its pattern
// ===== RECOVERY (acquire material/energy in CONTENTION with other components; receive freed material) =====
NIGHT | import + free: // alter-ego of the night ACTION (inter-component)
pre_material += transit(pre_material_ship, τ_transport_bouton) // import build material (contested pool)
pre_energy += transit(pre_energy_ship, τ_transport_bouton) // import build energy (contested pool)
pre_material += pre_freed_material; pre_freed_material = 0 // reclaim what release freed
if renorm_signal arrived: // descended constraint → free structure
freed = pre_structure × (1 - renorm_signal); pre_structure *= renorm_signal
emit(freed → recycled material pool) // freed material re-enters contention
pre_material += pre_ceiling_shrinkage·recycle // energy NOT recovered
pre_maintain: pre_structure += min(pre_maint, maint_cost) // hold up what is used
// ===== PREPARATION (REPLAY the release as a probe — SAME machinery as day ACTION; multi-timescale) =====
// Replay re-runs the release exactly as by day: same drive, same capacity + vesicle checks, same
// endurance deposit into the SAME pre_endurance_need trace. Differs from DAY ACTION: no dopamine,
// and the glutamate is a PROBE — drives the pattern onward and its own trace is read as participation.
NIGHT | replay + measure + prime: // release here is PREPARATION, not the deed
// FAST: probe-release ⇄ restock (the replay, run repeatedly to measure participation)
spont = intrinsic_fluctuation()
if spont > pre_spont_thr or arrived_replay_AP: // ignite: spontaneous, or recruited by the pattern
pre_fast_trace += mini_Ca(VGCC_active)·δ(replay) // SAME trace deposit as DAY ACTION
drive = sat(pre_fast_trace × VGCC_active, K_release)
if pre_budget < release_cost: // SAME capacity check → endurance evidence
suppress(replay_flux)
if pre_fast_trace > traj_thr:
pre_endurance_need += pre_fast_trace·Δt // SAME trace, fed by replay too
else if RRP > 0: // SAME vesicle check
replay_flux = RRP × drive; RRP -= replay_flux·Δt; pre_budget -= replay_flux·fusion_cost
glutamate += replay_flux·Δt // real glutamate → POST: carries the pattern onward
RRP += fill(RRP, pre_structure.slot_ceiling, pre_structure.refill_ceiling, vatpase_cost, pre_budget) // restock
pre_participation = level(pre_fast_trace) // read the replayed response as participation
// MEDIUM: prime excitability + VGCC from the standing tag (readies the next probe AND next build)
pre_spont_thr = spont_thr_base − thr_gain × pre_tag
if pre_tag > prime_thr:
VGCC_active = min(VGCC_active + prime_gain × pre_tag, pre_structure.VGCC_coupling)
pre_possible_tag *= occupancy_downscale // apply descended constraint to self
// SLOW: settle
pre_fast_trace *= decay(100ms); pre_tag *= decay(hr); pre_endurance_need *= decay(slow)
emit(pre_fatigue, pre_demand → upward) // not a sink: emits inward/upward by night
POST
The postsynaptic spine is the synapse's primary memory locus: it detects coincident input, runs the calcium dynamics that decide potentiation versus depression, and requires the most validation (three coincidences) before committing.
POST's ACTION is the synaptic event (context NOT_bAP). Integration is graded and ongoing rather than spike-punctate, so POST's action-context is "glutamate present, no bAP": three calcium sources feed the fast trace — AMPA current (small Ca, begins ejecting the NMDA Mg block) and NMDA (large Ca, only on the local coincidence of depolarization + astrocyte D-serine + glutamate). The action deposits the calcium trace and emits the two retrograde messages. Because POST's receptors are physical coincidence detectors, two of its three tag-coincidences (astro D-serine, and the bAP below) are detected in the action; only the organism's dopamine coincidence is left to evaluation.
bAP is a second, vertical action-context. The soma's back-propagating spike arrives, adds depolarization and calcium, and supralinearly amplifies an existing candidate — the soma's confirmation that it fired, detected in the action-moment (instantaneous coincidence).
EVALUATION FOLDS INTO PREPARATION. POST runs the same three categories as every component. ACTION is the synaptic response (integrate glutamate, detect the instantaneous coincidences, emit the retrogrades). RECOVERY restores the ability to respond again — calcium extrusion and NMDA Mg-block re-establishment, the fast alter-ego of the response. PREPARATION shapes what comes next: fills AMPA surface toward the slot ceiling from accumulated calcium (short-term potentiation, no dopamine — for the next response), climbs the tag on the dopamine coincidence (for the night), refills budget, and settles. A fuel shortfall while calcium was climbing toward a tag is endurance evidence (a preparation deposit made during action); a surface already at its ceiling is a structural limit, not endurance.
During NIGHT — the same three categories, turned inward. RECOVERY imports material/energy and primes AMPA responsiveness from the standing tag. PREPARATION replays: POST responds to the re-evoked glutamate exactly as it responds by day (same AMPA/NMDA machinery, same endurance deposit into the same trace), reading the response as participation rather than transmitting — no dopamine. ACTION is the structural change: general homeostatic lowering, then rebuild where the tag stands and participation was confirmed, consuming the tag. Both ceilings draw the same finite pool and compete; unmaintained ceilings drift down.
// PARAMETERS K_AMPA · AMPA_Ca · AMPA_cost · NMDA_cost · bAP_cost · pka_cost · traffic_cost
// req_cost · Mg_eject · K_Ds · Ca_STP · Ca_TAG · eCB_thr · drift · baseline
// NO_synth_cost · eCB_synth_cost
// INTERFACE
// EMIT retro_NO (+), retro_eCB (−) → PRE
// RECEIVE (signals) glutamate ← PRE ; astro_Dserine ← ASTRO ; bAP ← DEND/SOMA ; dopamine
// READ glutamate ; astro_Dserine (GAIN, not gate) ; bAP (dend_structure.bAP_fidelity) ; dopamine
// OWN post_structure{slot_ceiling, spine_volume, reserve_ceiling} ; post_budget_ceiling
// SUPPLY astro_lactate[syn] ← ASTRO ; dend_ship_post ← DEND ; post_material ← DEND(NIGHT) ; post_energy ← SOMA(NIGHT)
// EMERGENCY shockwave_lockdown ← ASTRO
// NOTE POST endurance is own-state only (own Ca climbing); no arrived feedback term.
// coincidences sort by timescale: D-serine/bAP detected IN ACTION (instantaneous); dopamine in PREPARATION.
// THE THREE CATEGORIES (same at DAY and NIGHT; here DAY, subject = arrived glutamate / bAP):
// ACTION respond: integrate glutamate, detect instantaneous coincidences, emit retro (NOT_bAP);
// bAP is a second, vertical action-context (soma's spike confirms)
// RECOVERY restore the ability to respond: Ca extrusion + NMDA Mg-block re-establish
// PREPARATION shape what comes next: AMPA fill (next response) + tag climb (NIGHT) + refill + settle
// Coincidences sort by timescale: D-serine/bAP detected IN ACTION (instantaneous); dopamine in PREPARATION.
// ===== ACTION =====
DAY | bAP: // second action-context (vertical): soma confirms
Vm += bAP_depol × dend_structure.bAP_fidelity; post_budget -= bAP_cost
if post_possible_tag > Ca_TAG: post_fast_trace += bAP_Ca_boost() // amplify only if candidate present
DAY | NOT_bAP: // respond to arrived input (the defining deed)
a = sat(glutamate, K_AMPA)
AMPA_current = a × AMPA_surface; Vm += AMPA_current; post_budget -= AMPA_cost // SOURCE 1 AMPA
post_fast_trace += AMPA_Ca·AMPA_current
if Vm > Mg_eject and glutamate > 0: // SOURCE 2 NMDA (Mg relieved)
post_fast_trace += NMDA_Ca(glutamate) × sat(astro_Dserine, K_Ds)·rise_speed(); post_budget -= NMDA_cost
// D-serine sets the GAIN (how strongly POST responds), not a coincidence gate — dialed by the astrocyte
retro_NO += NO_emit(post_fast_trace); post_budget -= NO_synth_cost // EMIT + "responsive target"
if Vm > eCB_thr:
retro_eCB += eCB_emit(Vm); post_budget -= eCB_synth_cost // EMIT − brake
// ===== RECOVERY (restore the ability to respond; alter-ego of the response) =====
DAY | NOT_bAP · recovered: // Ca extrusion + Mg-block re-establish
post_fast_trace *= decay(ms) // FAST — Ca extruded, trace relaxes
// (NMDA Mg-block re-establishes as Vm falls — implicit in the Vm>Mg_eject gate next response)
// ===== PREPARATION (shape the next response AND the NIGHT) =====
DAY | quiet: // sustained quiet
// for NIGHT: climb the tag; dopamine is the integrable coincidence (#3)
if post_fast_trace > Ca_TAG: post_possible_tag += post_fast_trace; post_budget -= pka_cost
if dopamine > dop_thr and post_possible_tag > tag_thr:
post_tag += dopamine × post_possible_tag // token minted for NIGHT
// for the NEXT RESPONSE: STP fill / STD drift
if post_fast_trace > Ca_STP:
if post_budget < traffic_cost: // FUEL shortfall → endurance (a PREPARATION deposit)
if post_fast_trace > traj_thr and post_fast_trace_rising:
post_endurance_need += post_fast_trace
else if AMPA_surface < post_structure.slot_ceiling:
AMPA_surface += Ca_insert(post_fast_trace); post_budget -= traffic_cost
// else: surface at slot_ceiling → structure-limited (not endurance)
else:
AMPA_surface = max(AMPA_surface - drift·Δt, baseline) // STD = un-honored decay
post_budget += refill(post from astro_lactate[syn] + transit(dend_ship_post, τ_transport_spine))
post_possible_tag *= decay(min); post_endurance_need *= decay(min) // MEDIUM
post_tag *= decay(hr); dopamine *= decay(ms) // SLOW + signals
// ── NIGHT: SAME three categories, consolidation timescale, subject = the pattern.
// Rhythm: (ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY) × many, then PREPARATION. Build⇄release contend WITHIN (participation
// arbitrates); material contends BETWEEN components (recovery). Night PREPARATION replays the DAY
// ACTION (same AMPA/NMDA machinery, same endurance trace), read for participation not significance.
// ===== ACTION (build ⇄ release; participation gates direction; tag funds build, persists across cycles) =====
NIGHT | build or release:
if rest_permission and post_tag > tag_expiry and post_participation ≥ MEDIUM: // BUILD (slice)
Δ = min(slot_batch, post_material, post_energy·f_cap, post_tag) × post_participation
post_structure += Δ; post_material -= Δ; post_energy -= Δ·assembly_cost
post_tag -= Δ // SLICE — tag persists across cycles
if post_endurance_need > endur_thr:
Δ' = min(cap_batch, post_material·f_cap, post_energy·f_cap)
post_budget_ceiling += Δ'; post_material -= Δ'; post_energy -= Δ'·biogenesis_cost
post_endurance_need -= Δ'
else if post_participation == LOW: // RELEASE: shed, free material; tag untouched
shed = release_rate × max(post_structure - homeostatic_floor, 0)
post_structure -= shed; post_freed_material += shed·recycle
post_budget_ceiling -= capacity_decay_rate·Δt_cycle
// else: HOLD — tag waits for its pattern
// ===== RECOVERY (acquire material/energy in CONTENTION with other components; receive freed material) =====
NIGHT | import + free:
post_material += transit(post_material_ship, τ_transport_spine) // import (contested pool)
post_energy += transit(post_energy_ship, τ_transport_spine)
post_material += post_freed_material; post_freed_material = 0 // reclaim what release freed
if renorm_signal arrived:
freed = post_structure × (1 - renorm_signal); post_structure *= renorm_signal
emit(freed → recycled material pool)
post_material += post_ceiling_shrinkage·recycle // energy NOT recovered
post_structure += min(post_maint, maint_cost) // hold up what is used
// ===== PREPARATION (REPLAY the response — SAME machinery as day ACTION; multi-timescale) =====
NIGHT | replay + measure + prime:
// FAST: replay the response to the re-evoked input (probe)
if arrived_glutamate_replay or arrived_replay_AP:
a = sat(glutamate, K_AMPA)
post_fast_trace += AMPA_Ca·(a × AMPA_surface) // SAME AMPA machinery as DAY ACTION
if Vm > Mg_eject:
post_fast_trace += NMDA_Ca(glutamate) × sat(astro_Dserine, K_Ds) // SAME NMDA machinery (D-serine = gain)
if post_budget < traffic_cost: // SAME capacity check → endurance evidence
if post_fast_trace > traj_thr: post_endurance_need += post_fast_trace // SAME trace, fed by replay
post_participation = level(post_fast_trace) // read replayed response as participation
// MEDIUM: prime responsiveness (AMPA occupancy) from the standing tag
post_spont_thr = spont_thr_base − thr_gain × post_tag
if post_tag > prime_thr:
AMPA_surface = min(AMPA_surface + prime_gain × post_tag, post_structure.slot_ceiling)
post_possible_tag *= occupancy_downscale
// SLOW: settle
post_fast_trace *= decay(ms); post_tag *= decay(hr); post_endurance_need *= decay(slow)
emit(post_fatigue, post_demand → upward) // not a sink: emits inward/upward by night
DEND
The dendritic branch is the postsynapse's supply line and the neuron's input integrator. It carries the back-propagating spike out to its spines, integrates their voltages toward the soma, and ships material and budget to the spines it supports.
During DAY, during bAP — the branch propagates and integrates. When the soma fires, the branch propagates the back-propagating spike toward its spines, with a fidelity that attenuates with distance (distal spines get weaker confirmation, are harder to potentiate). It deposits branch calcium and integrates its spines' voltages into a single branch signal sent on to the soma. A fuel shortfall that cuts propagation short while the branch was strongly active is endurance evidence; propagation that simply attenuates with distance is a structural limit, not endurance.
During DAY, during NOT_bAP — the branch consolidates, supplies, and recovers. It maintains its tag toward consolidation, lowers its commit threshold under acetylcholine (attention), ships budget down to its spines (demand-weighted by their tags), runs local translation if tagged, refills its own budget from astrocytic lactate and somatic shipment, and lets its traces decay.
During NIGHT — the branch's ceilings are rewritten. NIGHT raises structure (bAP fidelity, translation capacity) where a validated tag accumulated and budget capacity where fuel interrupted strong branch activity, both from the shared pool, both competing; unmaintained ceilings drift down.
// PARAMETERS prop_cost · branch_Ca_cost · integrate_cost · translate_cost · ACh_gain
// INTERFACE
// EMIT bAP_local → POST ; branch_Vm → SOMA ; dend_ship_post → POST
// RECEIVE (signals) SOMA.fired ; POST.Vm + spine spillover ; dopamine ; ACh
// READ SOMA.fired ; POST.Vm + spine spillover ; dopamine ; ACh
// OWN dend_structure{bAP_fidelity(pos), translation_ceiling, transport_speed} ; dend_budget_ceiling
// SUPPLY astro_lactate[branch] ← ASTRO ; soma_ship_dend ← SOMA ; dend_material, dend_energy ← SOMA(NIGHT)
// NOTE DEND endurance fires only on FUEL-limited propagation, not structural attenuation;
// own-state proxy (strong branch activity); no arrived feedback term.
// THE THREE CATEGORIES (same at DAY and NIGHT; here DAY, subject = soma's bAP / spine input):
// ACTION propagate the bAP to spines + integrate spine voltage to soma (context bAP)
// RECOVERY restore branch excitability: Ca clearance (fast alter-ego of propagation)
// PREPARATION shape the next: tag climb (NIGHT), attention threshold, ship to spines, refill, settle
// ONE fuel shortfall that cuts propagation short = endurance; distance attenuation = structural limit.
// ===== ACTION =====
DAY | bAP: // propagate + integrate (the defining deed)
if dend_budget < prop_cost:
if dend_fast_trace > traj_thr: // FUEL shortfall → endurance (a PREPARATION deposit)
dend_endurance_need += dend_fast_trace
bAP_local, reached = propagate_partial(dend_budget)
else:
bAP_local, reached = propagate(SOMA.fired, dend_structure.bAP_fidelity, geometry)
// reached < full here is structural attenuation (distance), NOT endurance
dend_budget -= prop_cost × reached
dend_fast_trace += bAP_Ca(bAP_local) + spine_spillover(); dend_budget -= branch_Ca_cost
branch_Vm = integrate(POST.Vm, spines); dend_budget -= integrate_cost // EMIT integrated Vm → SOMA
// ===== RECOVERY (restore branch excitability; alter-ego of propagation) =====
DAY | NOT_bAP · recovered: // Ca clearance
dend_fast_trace *= decay(300ms) // FAST — branch Ca relaxes
// ===== PREPARATION (shape the next propagation AND the NIGHT) =====
DAY | NOT_bAP:
// DEND is an ENDURANCE-ONLY relay: NO dopamine-gated strength tag. Its consolidation is load-driven
// (endurance_need, deposited in ACTION on fuel-limited propagation) — not reward-validated potentiation.
// (structural strengthening of a branch is emergent from its spines' tags, not an independent dend tag.)
// for the next: attention lowers commit threshold; local translation; ship to spines; refill
commit_threshold *= 1/(1 + ACh·ACh_gain)
if dend_budget > translate_cost and dend_endurance_need > endur_thr: dend_budget -= translate_cost
dend_ship_post = ship(dend_budget, post_demand, post_ship_frac, ship_cost) // EMIT down to spines
dend_budget += refill(dend from astro_lactate[branch] + transit(soma_ship_dend, τ_transport_dend))
dend_endurance_need *= decay(min) // MEDIUM (the only pathway)
// ── NIGHT: SAME three categories, subject = the pattern. DEND is an intermediate RELAY: its
// PREPARATION replay relays replay_AP onward to spines IF primed (carrying SOMA→DEND→POST).
// ENDURANCE-ONLY: night ACTION builds CAPACITY (from endurance_need) ⇄ releases where participation
// is low — no dopamine strength tag. Rhythm: (ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY) × many, then PREPARATION.
// ===== ACTION (build CAPACITY ⇄ release; participation gates direction; endurance funds build) =====
NIGHT | build or release:
if dend_endurance_need > endur_thr and dend_participation ≥ MEDIUM: // BUILD capacity (load-driven, no dopamine)
Δ' = min(cap_batch, dend_material·f_cap, dend_energy·f_cap)
dend_budget_ceiling += Δ'; dend_material -= Δ'; dend_energy -= Δ'·biogenesis_cost
dend_endurance_need -= Δ'
else if dend_participation == LOW: // RELEASE: shed, free material
shed = release_rate × max(dend_structure - homeostatic_floor, 0)
dend_structure -= shed; dend_freed_material += shed·recycle
dend_budget_ceiling -= capacity_decay_rate·Δt_cycle
// else: HOLD
// ===== RECOVERY (acquire/free material in CONTENTION; ship down to feed spine links) =====
NIGHT | import + free:
dend_material += transit(soma_material_to_dend, τ_transport_dend)
dend_energy += transit(soma_energy_to_dend, τ_transport_dend)
dend_material += dend_freed_material; dend_freed_material = 0 // reclaim what release freed
if renorm_signal arrived:
freed = dend_structure × (1 - renorm_signal); dend_structure *= renorm_signal
emit(freed → recycled material pool)
dend_material += dend_ceiling_shrinkage·recycle // energy NOT recovered
dend_structure += min(dend_maint, maint_cost) // hold up what is used
post_material_ship += ship(dend_material, post_demand, f_spine, ship_cost) // ship to feed spine links
post_energy_ship += ship(dend_energy, post_demand, f_spine, ship_cost)
// ===== PREPARATION (REPLAY the propagation — SAME machinery as day ACTION; relays the pattern; multi-timescale) =====
NIGHT | replay + measure + prime:
// FAST: relay the replay_AP onward to spines IF primed (probe)
if arrived_replay_AP and dend_spont_thr < recruit_thr:
bAP_local = propagate(replay_AP, dend_structure.bAP_fidelity, geometry) // SAME propagate machinery
emit(bAP_local → POST) // carries the pattern to the spines
dend_fast_trace += bAP_Ca(bAP_local)
if dend_budget < prop_cost and dend_fast_trace > traj_thr: // SAME capacity check → endurance
dend_endurance_need += dend_fast_trace // SAME trace, fed by replay
dend_participation = level(dend_fast_trace) // read replayed response as participation
// MEDIUM: a relay stays recruitable at baseline (no tag to prime from — it carries whatever reaches it)
dend_spont_thr = spont_thr_base
// SLOW: settle
dend_fast_trace *= decay(300ms); dend_endurance_need *= decay(slow)
emit(dend_fatigue, dend_demand → upward)
SOMA
The soma is the neuron's integrating center and the root of its structural material. It sums the branch inputs, fires when they exceed a threshold it sets from its own adaptation and the neuromodulators, and ships material and budget out to the dendrites and axon. Its timing — refractoriness, adaptation, rhythm alignment — emerges bottom-up from local traces, never from a represented clock.
During DAY, during AP — the soma integrates and fires. It computes its firing threshold from its baseline (structure), its accumulated adaptation, and the neuromodulators, and checks its refractory state; if the integrated branch input clears the threshold and fuel allows, it fires. One spike deposits three traces at three timescales — sodium inactivation (refractory), slow-potassium adaptation (threshold rise), and nuclear calcium (toward CREB and the tag). A fuel shortfall while nuclear calcium was climbing is endurance evidence; being refractory or sub-threshold is a timing limit, not endurance.
During DAY, during NOT_AP — the soma recovers, aligns, and supplies. It self-replenishes from its own mitochondria (its private root), integrates the latest branch inputs, deposits a refractory-alignment trace when suprathreshold input arrived during its refractory period (so it aligns to its input rhythm bottom-up), ships budget to dendrites and axon (demand-weighted by their tags), recovers from refractoriness at a rate its alignment trace speeds up, and lets its traces decay.
During NIGHT — the soma's ceilings are rewritten, and it gates the whole neuron's material. NIGHT raises structure (excitability, synthesis capacity) and budget capacity from the shared pool; crucially the soma's own tag gates CREB-driven synthesis, so how much material all downstream components receive depends on the soma having been tagged.
// PARAMETERS ap_cost · nuclear_cost · creb_cost · mito_output · inactivation · ap_amp · ap_contrib
// base_recovery · τ_Na · τ_adapt · τ_nuclear · τ_align
// INTERFACE
// EMIT fired → AXON (propagate) + DEND (bAP) ; soma_ship_dend → DEND ; soma_ship_axon → AXON
// RECEIVE (signals) branch_Vm ← DEND ; dopamine ; NE ; ACh
// READ dopamine ; NE ; ACh
// OWN soma_structure{baseline_threshold, AP_reliability, synthesis_ceiling} ; soma_budget_ceiling
// SUPPLY self (mitochondria, ROOT — private)
// NOTE SOMA endurance fires only on FUEL shortfall (budget < ap_cost);
// refractory / sub-threshold are timing limits, not endurance. Own-state proxy.
// THE THREE CATEGORIES (same at DAY and NIGHT; here DAY, subject = the branch input / spike):
// ACTION fire (the defining deed) — context AP
// RECOVERY restore the ability to fire again: refractory de-inactivation + mito replenish —
// the alter-ego of the spike, runs in NOT_AP
// PREPARATION shape the next spike: alignment, adaptation, tag-climb (for NIGHT), ship, decay
// Pattern: (ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY) × many spikes, then PREPARATION.
// ONE spike's fast trace feeds TWO preparation destinations: nuclear-Ca → tag (for NIGHT),
// inactivation/adaptation/alignment → next-spike timing (this scope).
// ===== ACTION =====
DAY | AP: // integrate + fire (the defining deed)
threshold = soma_structure.baseline_threshold × (1 + soma_adaptation) × neuromod(NE, ACh)
can_fire = soma_Na_inactivation < inactivation
if branch_Vm > threshold and can_fire:
if soma_budget < ap_cost: // FUEL shortfall → endurance (a PREPARATION deposit)
if soma_fast_trace > traj_thr and soma_fast_trace_rising:
soma_endurance_need += soma_fast_trace
exit
fired = True; soma_budget -= ap_cost // EMIT fired → AXON, DEND
// deposit the THREE traces from one AP (all PREPARATION content, deposited in the action):
soma_Na_inactivation += ap_amp // → refractory (recovery will undo this)
soma_adaptation += ap_contrib // → threshold rise (next-spike timing)
soma_fast_trace += nuclear_Ca(); soma_budget -= nuclear_cost // → tag (for NIGHT)
if soma_fast_trace > elig: soma_possible_tag += soma_fast_trace
if dopamine > dop_thr and soma_possible_tag > tag_thr:
soma_tag += dopamine × soma_possible_tag
soma_budget -= creb_cost
soma_emitted_activity += 1; soma_emitted_structure = soma_structure // NEURON sums these
// ===== RECOVERY (restore the ability to fire; alter-ego of AP; runs in NOT_AP) =====
DAY | NOT_AP: // de-inactivate + replenish
soma_budget += fill(soma_budget, soma_budget_ceiling, mito_output, 0, soma_budget) // mito replenish
recovery = base_recovery × (1 + soma_refractory_alignment)
soma_Na_inactivation *= decay(τ_Na / recovery) // refractory recovery (sped by alignment)
soma_fast_trace *= decay(τ_nuclear) // FAST — nuclear-Ca relaxes
// ===== PREPARATION (shape the next spike AND the NIGHT; ⊂ NOT_AP, sustained quiet) =====
DAY | NOT_SPIKE_TRAIN:
branch_Vm = integrate(DEND.branch_Vm, branches) // RECEIVE latest branch input
// for next-spike timing: refractory alignment (suprathreshold input during refractory)
if branch_Vm > threshold and soma_Na_inactivation > inactivation:
soma_refractory_alignment += (branch_Vm - threshold) × soma_Na_inactivation
// for downstream: ship budget to dendrites + axon (demand-weighted)
soma_ship_dend = ship(soma_budget, dend_demand, dend_ship_frac, ship_cost)
soma_ship_axon = ship(soma_budget, axon_demand, axon_ship_frac, ship_cost)
// settle medium/slow stocks
soma_refractory_alignment *= decay(τ_align); soma_adaptation *= decay(τ_adapt)
soma_possible_tag *= decay(s); soma_endurance_need *= decay(min)
soma_tag *= decay(hr); dopamine *= decay(ms)
// ── NIGHT: SAME three categories, consolidation timescale, subject = the pattern. SOMA is a ROOT
// (produces material each cycle) AND the IGNITION POINT: its PREPARATION replay-fire propagates a
// replay_AP down axon + dendrites. Rhythm: (ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY) × many, then PREPARATION. Build⇄release
// contend WITHIN (participation arbitrates); material contends BETWEEN components (recovery).
// ===== ACTION (build ⇄ release; participation gates direction; tag funds build, persists across cycles) =====
NIGHT | build or release:
if soma_tag > tag_expiry and soma_participation ≥ MEDIUM: // BUILD (slice)
Δ = min(slot_batch, soma_material, soma_energy·f_cap, soma_tag) × soma_participation
soma_structure += Δ; soma_material -= Δ; soma_energy -= Δ·assembly_cost
soma_tag -= Δ // SLICE — tag persists across cycles
if soma_endurance_need > endur_thr:
Δ' = min(cap_batch, soma_material·f_cap, soma_energy·f_cap)
soma_budget_ceiling += Δ'; soma_material -= Δ'; soma_energy -= Δ'·biogenesis_cost
soma_endurance_need -= Δ'
else if soma_participation == LOW: // RELEASE: shed, free material; tag untouched
shed = release_rate × max(soma_structure - homeostatic_floor, 0)
soma_structure -= shed; soma_freed_material += shed·recycle
soma_budget_ceiling -= capacity_decay_rate·Δt_cycle
// else: HOLD — tag waits for its pattern
// ===== RECOVERY (ROOT production + acquire/free material in CONTENTION; ship to feed the pattern) =====
NIGHT | produce + import + free:
soma_material += CREB_synth(soma_tag)·Δt_cycle // ROOT: produce material — recoverable
soma_energy += mito_synth()·Δt_cycle // ROOT: produce energy — NOT recoverable
night_energy_spent += mito_synth()·Δt_cycle
soma_material += soma_freed_material; soma_freed_material = 0 // reclaim what release freed
soma_material_to_dend += ship(soma_material, dend_demand, f_dend, ship_cost) // ship to feed pattern links
soma_material_to_axon += ship(soma_material, axon_demand, f_axon, ship_cost)
soma_energy_to_dend += ship(soma_energy, dend_demand, f_dend, ship_cost)
soma_energy_to_axon += ship(soma_energy, axon_demand, f_axon, ship_cost)
soma_material += soma_ceiling_shrinkage·recycle
soma_structure += min(soma_maint, maint_cost) // hold up what is used
// ===== PREPARATION (REPLAY the fire — SAME machinery as day ACTION; ignites the pattern; multi-timescale) =====
NIGHT | replay-fire + measure + prime:
// FAST: replay-fire (probe); ignites the pattern down the day pathway
spont = intrinsic_fluctuation()
if spont > soma_spont_thr: // ignite (SAME threshold logic as day fire)
replay_AP = TRUE
soma_fast_trace += nuclear_Ca()·δ(replay) // SAME trace deposit as DAY ACTION
if soma_budget < ap_cost: // SAME capacity check → endurance evidence
if soma_fast_trace > traj_thr: soma_endurance_need += soma_fast_trace // SAME trace, fed by replay
else:
soma_budget -= ap_cost
emit(replay_AP → AXON, DEND) // propagate: AXON/DEND relay onward IF primed
// pattern carries link by link, primed→primed (mechanical coherence):
// SOMA →[replay_AP]→ AXON →→ PRE →[glutamate]→ POST →→ DEND →→ SOMA ; one un-primed link breaks it
soma_participation = level(soma_fast_trace) // read replayed response as participation
// MEDIUM: prime firing excitability from the standing tag
soma_spont_thr = spont_thr_base − thr_gain × soma_tag
// SLOW: settle
soma_fast_trace *= decay(τ_nuclear); soma_tag *= decay(hr); soma_endurance_need *= decay(slow)
AXON
The axon carries the soma's spike out to its boutons and is the presynapse's supply line. It propagates reliably or not depending on its myelination and its recent load, and ships material and budget to the boutons.
During DAY, during AP — the axon propagates the spike. Reliability is set by structure (myelination) and degraded by recent high-frequency load (sodium inactivation at branch points — axonal short-term depression). A fuel shortfall while carrying a strong train is endurance evidence; load-driven failure is short-term depression, a consequence, not endurance.
During DAY, during NOT_AP — the axon supplies and recovers. It maintains its tag, ships budget to its boutons (demand-weighted by their tags), refills its own budget from somatic shipment and astrocytic lactate, and lets its traces decay.
During NIGHT — the axon's ceilings are rewritten. NIGHT raises structure (myelination, transport capacity) and budget capacity from the shared pool, both competing; unmaintained ceilings drift down.
// PARAMETERS prop_cost · budget_factor
// INTERFACE
// EMIT APs_delivered → PRE (propagation) ; axon_ship_pre → PRE
// RECEIVE (signals) SOMA.fired ; dopamine
// READ SOMA.fired ; dopamine
// OWN axon_structure{propagation, transport_ceiling, mito_density} ; axon_budget_ceiling
// SUPPLY soma_ship_axon ← SOMA ; astro_lactate[shaft] ← ASTRO ; axon_material, axon_energy ← SOMA(NIGHT)
// NOTE AXON endurance fires only on FUEL shortfall; load-driven failure fail(fast_trace)
// is axonal STD (a consequence), not endurance. Own-state proxy.
// THE THREE CATEGORIES (same at DAY and NIGHT; here DAY, subject = soma's spike):
// ACTION propagate the delivered spike to boutons (context AP)
// RECOVERY restore axon excitability: ionic re-equilibration (fast alter-ego of propagation)
// PREPARATION shape the next: tag climb (NIGHT), ship to boutons, refill, settle
// fail(fast_trace) is load-driven axonal STD (a consequence); FUEL shortfall is endurance.
// ===== ACTION =====
DAY | AP: // propagate the spike (the defining deed)
reliability = axon_structure.propagation × (1 - fail(axon_fast_trace)) // fail() = STD, not endurance
if axon_budget < prop_cost:
reliability *= budget_factor
if axon_fast_trace > traj_thr: // FUEL-limited → endurance (a PREPARATION deposit)
axon_endurance_need += axon_fast_trace
delivered = fired × reliability; axon_budget -= prop_cost × delivered // EMIT delivered → boutons
axon_fast_trace += delivered // deposit fast trace
// ===== RECOVERY (restore axon excitability; alter-ego of propagation) =====
DAY | NOT_AP · recovered: // ionic re-equilibration
axon_fast_trace *= decay(s) // FAST — shaft relaxes
// ===== PREPARATION (shape the next propagation AND the NIGHT) =====
DAY | NOT_AP:
// AXON is an ENDURANCE-ONLY relay: NO dopamine-gated strength tag. Structural change (myelination,
// propagation reliability) is LOAD-driven — built from endurance_need where it repeatedly propagated
// hard — not reward-validated. An axon needs no signal that a memory was rewarding to know it ran hard.
// for the next: ship to boutons, refill toward next demand
axon_ship_pre = ship(axon_budget, pre_demand, pre_ship_frac, ship_cost)
axon_budget += refill(axon from soma_ship_axon + astro_lactate[shaft])
axon_endurance_need *= decay(min) // MEDIUM (the only pathway)
// ── NIGHT: SAME three categories, subject = the pattern. AXON is an intermediate RELAY: its
// PREPARATION replay relays replay_AP onward to boutons IF primed (carrying SOMA→AXON→PRE).
// ENDURANCE-ONLY: night ACTION builds CAPACITY (from endurance_need) ⇄ releases where participation
// is low — no dopamine strength tag. Rhythm: (ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY) × many, then PREPARATION.
// ===== ACTION (build CAPACITY ⇄ release; participation gates direction; endurance funds build) =====
NIGHT | build or release:
if axon_endurance_need > endur_thr and axon_participation ≥ MEDIUM: // BUILD capacity (load-driven, no dopamine)
Δ' = min(cap_batch, axon_material·f_cap, axon_energy·f_cap)
axon_budget_ceiling += Δ'; axon_material -= Δ'; axon_energy -= Δ'·biogenesis_cost
axon_endurance_need -= Δ'
else if axon_participation == LOW: // RELEASE: shed, free material
shed = release_rate × max(axon_structure - homeostatic_floor, 0)
axon_structure -= shed; axon_freed_material += shed·recycle
axon_budget_ceiling -= capacity_decay_rate·Δt_cycle
// else: HOLD
// ===== RECOVERY (acquire/free material in CONTENTION; ship down to feed bouton links) =====
NIGHT | import + free:
axon_material += transit(soma_material_to_axon, τ_transport_dend)
axon_energy += transit(soma_energy_to_axon, τ_transport_dend)
axon_material += axon_freed_material; axon_freed_material = 0 // reclaim what release freed
if renorm_signal arrived:
freed = axon_structure × (1 - renorm_signal); axon_structure *= renorm_signal
emit(freed → recycled material pool)
axon_material += axon_ceiling_shrinkage·recycle // energy NOT recovered
axon_structure += min(axon_maint, maint_cost) // hold up what is used
pre_material_ship += ship(axon_material, pre_demand, f_bouton, ship_cost) // ship to feed bouton links
pre_energy_ship += ship(axon_energy, pre_demand, f_bouton, ship_cost)
// ===== PREPARATION (REPLAY the propagation — SAME machinery as day ACTION; relays the pattern; multi-timescale) =====
NIGHT | replay + measure + prime:
// FAST: relay the replay_AP onward to boutons IF primed (probe)
if arrived_replay_AP and axon_spont_thr < recruit_thr:
reliability = axon_structure.propagation × (1 - fail(axon_fast_trace)) // SAME reliability machinery
delivered = reliability × axon_structure.propagation
emit(replay_AP → PRE) // carries the pattern to the boutons
axon_fast_trace += delivered
if axon_budget < prop_cost and axon_fast_trace > traj_thr: // SAME capacity check → endurance
axon_endurance_need += axon_fast_trace // SAME trace, fed by replay
axon_participation = level(axon_fast_trace) // read replayed response as participation
// MEDIUM: a relay stays recruitable at baseline (no tag to prime from — it carries whatever reaches it)
axon_spont_thr = spont_thr_base
// SLOW: settle
axon_fast_trace *= decay(s); axon_endurance_need *= decay(slow)
emit(axon_fatigue, axon_demand → upward)
ASTROSYNAPSE
The astrosynapse is the perisynaptic astrocytic process — the LOCAL component at one synapse, the astroglial peer of pre/post and a constituent of the ASTROCYTE actor (which integrates across all of them, just as the NEURON integrates over the soma). The astrosynapse behaves locally here; the astrocyte integrates and broadcasts (see CELL ACTORS).
The astrosynapse is the synapse's modulator — the third party that tunes all three dimensions of transmission without performing the deed itself. It clears glutamate (setting how long transmitter dwells → timing), releases D-serine that dials the gain of the postsynaptic response to a given release (intensity, via POST's sensitivity — not a coincidence gate but a volume knob on POST), and its perisynaptic coverage sets spillover and isolation (space). Its one error signal is spillover: when PRE outpowers the current coverage, glutamate escapes — the direct physical sign that this astrosynapse is too small for its presynapse. Spillover coincident with a real postsynaptic response (read from the eavesdropped retrograde NO) is what it tags; its absence means the coverage can shrink. It reads the cleft it sits in: glutamate from PRE (spillover), the retrograde eCB/NO from POST (postsynaptic pressure and success), and — from above — the ASTROCYTE's territory-wide Ca²⁺ spike, which arrives at ALL the astrocyte's astrosynapses at once when enough of them were co-active (a territory-scale coincidence broadcast, the astrocytic analog of the soma's AP).
DAY · ACTION — clear + prime. The defining local deed: take up glutamate (EAAT clearance) and release D-serine to set POST's gain, biased by the astrocyte's slow priming field and pulsed up by an arriving territory Ca²⁺ spike. Spillover deposits its Ca²⁺ fast trace. DAY · RECOVERY — restock clearance + D-serine capacity, so it can service the next release (its recovery speed is the synapse's timing resolution). DAY · PREPARATION — stock the volume/gain evidence. Accumulate the tag: how often spillover occurred coincident with a real postsynaptic response — "this synapse repeatedly outgrew its coverage on genuine co-activation." Read the descended spike/prime that will bias the next action.
NIGHT — build ⇄ release coverage. Build perisynaptic coverage / clearance capacity / tonic D-serine where the tag stands (repeated spillover → enlarge to clear faster, sharpen timing, contain spillover — the build cancels the very spillover that signalled it) ⇄ release coverage where no spillover occurred (over-provisioned → shrink, free material). Astrosynapses compete for the astrocyte's produced material and energy.
// PARAMETERS K_Dserine · Ds_max · Ds_frac · Ds_cost · EAAT_cost · spillover · overload · spike_gain
// INTERFACE
// EMIT astro_Dserine[i] → POST (GAIN primer, not a gate) ; astro_localCa[i] → ASTROCYTE (integrated up)
// astro_fatigue, astro_demand → upward
// RECEIVE (signals) glutamate ← PRE (spillover) ; retro_NO, retro_eCB ← POST (eavesdropped) ;
// astro_prime[i] ← ASTROCYTE (slow gain field) ; astro_Ca_spike ← ASTROCYTE (territory broadcast)
// READ glutamate ; retro_NO ; retro_eCB ; astro_prime[i] ; astro_Ca_spike
// OWN astro_structure{coverage, EAAT, Dserine_tonic, ECM} ; astro_budget_ceiling ; astro_fast_trace
// SUPPLY astro_material, astro_energy ← ASTROCYTE (root) ; lactate distributed by ASTROCYTE
// NOTE D-serine is POST's GAIN, dialed by this astrosynapse × the astrocyte's prime/spike.
// Error signal = SPILLOVER (PRE outpowering coverage), tagged when coincident with retro_NO.
// EMERGENCY emits shockwave_lockdown on overload
//
// CONTINUOUS (no spike of its own): each step runs ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY, then PREPARATION, in graded flow.
// ===== ACTION (clear glutamate + release D-serine = POST's gain; the defining local deed) =====
DAY | CONTINUOUS · action | per astrosynapse i:
glutamate[i] -= astro_structure[i].EAAT × glutamate[i]·Δt; astro_budget[i] -= clearance·EAAT_cost // clear (timing)
gain = astro_structure[i].Dserine_tonic × astro_prime[i] × (1 + spike_gain × astro_Ca_spike) // prime POST gain
astro_Dserine[i] += gain·Δt // → POST (intensity)
if glutamate[i] > spillover: // SPILLOVER = PRE outpowered coverage (error signal)
astro_fast_trace[i] += mGluR_Ca() // deposit Ca fast trace (this action's residue)
want = sat(astro_fast_trace[i], K_Dserine) × Ds_max
got = min(want, astro_budget[i] × Ds_frac)
astro_Dserine[i] += got; astro_budget[i] -= got·Ds_cost // phasic D-serine (extra gain on spillover)
astro_localCa[i] = astro_fast_trace[i] // EMIT own Ca upward → ASTROCYTE integrates
if got < want and astro_budget[i] low and astro_fast_trace[i] > traj_thr:
astro_endurance_need[i] += (want - got) // FUEL-limited synthesis → endurance
if astro_fast_trace[i] > overload: emit(shockwave_lockdown) // EMERGENCY
// ===== RECOVERY (restore clearance + D-serine capacity; alter-ego — its speed IS the synapse's timing) =====
DAY | CONTINUOUS · recovery | per astrosynapse i:
astro_budget[i] += refill(astro[i] from lactate ← ASTROCYTE) // restock (contested territory supply)
astro_fast_trace[i] *= decay(s) // Ca relaxes — ready to detect next spillover
// ===== PREPARATION (stock the volume-need tag; read descended spike/prime; faces the NIGHT) =====
DAY | CONTINUOUS · preparation | per astrosynapse i:
// ENDURANCE-TYPE tag (NO dopamine): the volume-need is homeostatic, like fuel-shortfall endurance.
// It accumulates directly from spillover COINCIDENT with a real postsynaptic response (eavesdropped
// NO) — "I repeatedly outgrew my coverage on genuine co-activation" — not from reward validation.
// (dopamine reaches glia only as slow tone, folded into the astrocyte's prime — not a per-event gate.)
if astro_fast_trace[i] > elig and retro_NO > NO_thr:
astro_coverage_need[i] += astro_fast_trace[i] × (1 + retro_NO)·Δt // the volume tag, self-gated
astro_coverage_need[i] *= decay(hr) // SLOW (persists across cycles)
astro_endurance_need[i] *= decay(min) // MEDIUM (synthesis capacity)
// ── NIGHT: SAME three categories, subject = the pattern. Astrosynapses compete for the ASTROCYTE's
// produced material/energy (the astrocyte is their root). ENDURANCE-TYPE: coverage build is driven by
// coverage_need (homeostatic spillover signal), NOT a dopamine strength tag. Build ⇄ release COVERAGE,
// participation from the Ca response to re-evoked spillover. (ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY) × many, then PREPARATION.
// ===== ACTION (build ⇄ release COVERAGE; participation gates direction; coverage_need funds build) =====
NIGHT | build or release | per astrosynapse i:
if astro_coverage_need[i] > tag_expiry and astro_participation[i] ≥ MEDIUM: // BUILD coverage (slice)
Δ = min(slot_batch, astro_material[i], astro_energy[i]·f_cap, astro_coverage_need[i]) × astro_participation[i]
astro_structure[i] += Δ // enlarge coverage → faster clearance, less spillover
astro_material[i] -= Δ; astro_energy[i] -= Δ·assembly_cost; astro_coverage_need[i] -= Δ
if astro_endurance_need[i] > endur_thr:
Δ' = min(cap_batch, astro_material[i]·f_cap, astro_energy[i]·f_cap)
astro_budget_ceiling[i] += Δ'; astro_material[i] -= Δ'
astro_energy[i] -= Δ'·biogenesis_cost; astro_endurance_need[i] -= Δ'
else if astro_participation[i] == LOW: // RELEASE coverage: shed, free material
shed = release_rate × max(astro_structure[i] - homeostatic_floor, 0)
astro_structure[i] -= shed; astro_freed_material[i] += shed·recycle
astro_budget_ceiling[i] -= capacity_decay_rate·Δt_cycle
// else: HOLD
// ===== RECOVERY (acquire material/energy from the ASTROCYTE in CONTENTION with sibling astrosynapses) =====
NIGHT | import + free | per astrosynapse i:
astro_material[i] += astro_alloc[i]·astro_central_material // receive this cycle's share (contested)
astro_energy[i] += astro_alloc[i]·astro_central_energy
astro_material[i] += astro_freed_material[i]; astro_freed_material[i] = 0 // reclaim what release freed
astro_structure[i] += min(astro_maint[i], maint_cost) // hold up what is used
// ===== PREPARATION (REPLAY: respond to re-evoked spillover — SAME mGluR machinery — measure participation) =====
NIGHT | replay + measure | per astrosynapse i:
if arrived_glutamate_replay[i]: // re-evoked spillover arrives (probe)
astro_fast_trace[i] += mGluR_Ca() // SAME mGluR machinery as DAY ACTION
astro_participation[i] = level(astro_fast_trace[i]) // read replayed response as participation
astro_fast_trace[i] *= decay(s); astro_coverage_need[i] *= decay(hr); astro_endurance_need[i] *= decay(slow)
emit(astro_fatigue, astro_demand → upward)
Special — Shockwave Lockdown
DAY or NIGHT | OVERLOAD:
Vm = HYPERPOLARIZED; AMPA_surface = mass_internalize() → post reserve
axon_fast_trace += overdrive(); astro_central_budget -= emergency_cost
NIGHT-BLOCK UNIFORMITY (three categories). PRE, SOMA, POST, DEND, AXON now run both DAY and NIGHT chunked as (ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY) × many, then PREPARATION, under explicit
// ===== =====separators: (a) NIGHT-RECOVERY imports/produces supply, primes its OWN threshold from its OWN standing tag, applies the descended constraint to itself, recycles, and — for intermediate nodes AXON/DEND — ships downstream so the pattern's links are fed; (b) NIGHT-PREPARATION REPLAYS the day action — re-runs the SAME release/fire/respond/propagate machinery (same capacity/vesicle checks, same endurance deposit into the SAME trace), read as participation (level: high/medium/low), NO dopamine; AXON/DEND/SOMA also propagate the replay_AP onward IF primed (carrying SOMA→AXON→PRE and SOMA→DEND→POST); (c) NIGHT-ACTION lowers structure homeostatically, then rebuilds where the tag still stands AND participation ≥ medium, consuming the tag. Roots (SOMA material) additionally PRODUCE each cycle. The replay pattern propagates entirely through the DAY PATHWAYS, self-igniting, carrying only where every link is primed. ASTROSYNAPSE is now converted too (all six local components uniform): its ACTION is clear+prime (D-serine = POST gain), RECOVERY restocks clearance/D-serine, PREPARATION stocks the volume tag; NIGHT builds⇄releases COVERAGE. The ASTROCYTE adds a third role — a regenerative Ca spike that integrates astrosynaptic Ca and broadcasts territory-coincidence to all astrosynapses at once.
CELL ACTORS — NEURON and ASTROCYTE
Two structurally identical peers. Each integrates its constituents' EMITTED activity by its DAY (never reading their interiors), detects when its aggregate has gone quiet, and BROADCASTS the restructuring window + renormalization/reallocation by its NIGHT. Each component then restructures ITSELF in response. The cell actor's own DAY/NIGHT follows the same transition rule, on its own aggregate activity.
NEURON
The neuron is the whole-cell actor over soma, pre, post, dend, axon. It cannot fire or release — it integrates what its components emit and grants them the restructuring window none of them can grant itself. The soma is one of its constituents, a peer of the bouton; the neuron is not the soma.
// PARAMETERS neuron_weight_ceiling · downscale_factor
// INTERFACE
// EMIT rest_permission, renorm_signal, occupancy_downscale → own components (broadcast)
// neuron_fatigue → HYPOTHALAMUS
// RECEIVE (signals) component activity emissions (summed) ; scope_context ← HYPOTHALAMUS
// replay_reweight ← assembly/network (external)
// OWN neuron_activity · neuron_total_weight (aggregates aggregated from emissions)
// NOTE never reads a component interior; sums emitted activity, broadcasts signals only.
DAY | active: // (within broadcast DAY context → integrate only)
// TRACE integrate the cell's emitted activity + committed weight (aggregators)
neuron_activity += Σ component emitted_activity·Δt
neuron_total_weight = Σ component emitted_structure // from emissions, not interiors
// EMIT fatigue upward (metabolic debt of the whole cell)
neuron_fatigue = f(neuron_activity, unspent demand)
// (no restructuring permission while the cell is active — components are busy)
NIGHT | cycle: // (within broadcast NIGHT context)
// the neuron acts ONLY by signalling; components prime/measure/rebuild themselves. Each
// component's cycle is RECOVERY→PREPARATION→ACTION; the neuron just supplies the constraint.
occupancy_downscale = downscale_factor // → components reset own occupancy (in RECOVERY)
if neuron_total_weight > neuron_weight_ceiling:
renorm_signal = neuron_weight_ceiling / neuron_total_weight // → components scale own structure
rest_permission = TRUE // → components may restructure this cycle
// RECOVER reclaim material returned by components' renormalization (arrives as recycled pool)
// DECAY neuron_activity relaxes as the cell stays quiet
CODA | on waking (scope_context → DAY):
neuron_activity = 0; neuron_total_weight = recomputed from surviving emissions
ASTROCYTE
The astrocyte is the territory actor over its astrosynapses — the parallel of the neuron, with three roles. First, it is the ROOT of synaptic energy and ECM material, and therefore the system's METABOLIC SENSOR: it accrues territory energy debt and reports it upward as the fatigue that drives the hypothalamus's DAY/NIGHT switch, and its discharge of that debt during night permits waking. Second, it has its own ACTION — a regenerative Ca²⁺ SPIKE: it integrates the local Ca²⁺ emitted by its astrosynapses, and when the sum crosses threshold it fires a Ca²⁺ wave that reaches ALL its astrosynapses at once. This is the astrocytic analog of the soma's action potential — an integrate-and-fire event that detects and broadcasts a TERRITORY-SCALE COINCIDENCE (many synapses co-active), transiently boosting D-serine gain across the whole territory and marking every participating astrosynapse. Third, by DAY it PRIMES its territory: reading its own slow calcium wave (alpha-band), it sets a localized, slow, neuromodulator-like gain field on D-serine — dialing postsynaptic response strength across a field of synapses.
// PARAMETERS (territory reallocation) · alpha_gain · Ca_spike_thr · lactate_cost
// INTERFACE
// EMIT astro_prime[·] (DAY gain field) ; astro_Ca_spike (territory broadcast) ; astro_lactate[·] ;
// astro_alloc[·] + rest_permission (NIGHT) → astrosynapses ; astro_fatigue → HYPOTHALAMUS
// RECEIVE (signals) astro_localCa[·] (integrated up from astrosynapses) ; scope_context ; replay_reweight ; glucose
// OWN astro_integrated_Ca ; astro_slow_Ca (alpha wave) ; astro_central_{energy,material}
// NOTE THREE roles: ROOT (energy+material) · integrate-and-FIRE (Ca spike = territory coincidence) ·
// PRIME (alpha gain field). Metabolic sensor: reports fatigue that drives the day/night switch.
DAY | active:
// integrate the local Ca emitted by astrosynapses (aggregator) + own slow alpha wave
astro_integrated_Ca += Σ astro_localCa[i]·Δt
astro_slow_Ca = integrate_slow(territory activity) // alpha-band astrocytic calcium
// ACTION: regenerative Ca SPIKE when integrated Ca crosses threshold → broadcast to ALL astrosynapses
if astro_integrated_Ca > Ca_spike_thr:
astro_Ca_spike = 1; astro_integrated_Ca = 0 // fire + reset (territory-coincidence event)
// → every astrosynapse reads astro_Ca_spike this step (boosts its D-serine gain; marks its tag)
else:
astro_Ca_spike = 0
// PRIME: alpha-driven localized gain field on D-serine (dials POST response strength territory-wide)
for each astrosynapse i: astro_prime[i] = 1 + alpha_gain × astro_slow_Ca
// SUPPLY: distribute lactate across the territory by clearance demand (day metabolic support)
factor = min(1, astro_central_energy / (Σ clearance_load·lactate_cost + ε))
for each i: astro_lactate[i] = clearance_load[i] × factor; astro_central_energy -= astro_lactate[i]·lactate_cost
// EMIT report metabolic debt upward — the fatigue that drives the DAY/NIGHT switch
astro_fatigue = f(territory energy debt, unmet demand)
NIGHT | cycle: // (within broadcast NIGHT context)
// PRODUCTION (root): this cycle's energy + ECM batch, capped by glucose
astro_central_energy += overnight_glycolysis(glucose)·Δt_cycle // NOT recoverable
astro_central_material += astro_cellbody_synth()·Δt_cycle // recoverable
night_energy_spent += overnight_glycolysis(glucose)·Δt_cycle
// ADJUST allocation weights across the territory (tag × replay) — astrosynapses APPLY these in their RECOVERY
for each i: astro_alloc[i] = (astro_coverage_need[i] × replay_reweight[i]) / Σ(astro_coverage_need × replay_reweight)
rest_permission[i] = TRUE // → each astrosynapse builds/releases itself
// RECOVER reclaim material from decayed astrosynapse ceilings (returned to central pool)
astro_central_material += astro_ceiling_shrinkage·recycle
// discharge: producing + distributing energy repays territory debt → astro_fatigue falls → wake permitted
astro_fatigue -= discharge × astro_central_energy·Δt_cycle
CODA | on waking:
astro_integrated_Ca = 0
HYPOTHALAMUS
The system actor. Unlike every other actor it has NO night: it runs CONTINUOUS, integrating the FATIGUE⇄REST competition and BROADCASTING the DAY/NIGHT context that every other actor receives. It is the clock that never sleeps — but not a wall-clock: the context it emits is the earned outcome of the competition, not a schedule. Fatigue is reported chiefly by the ASTROCYTE (the metabolic sensor that runs the energy economy); rest accrues while quiet. If the hypothalamus stopped, nothing would integrate the competition and the scope could never switch.
// PARAMETERS fatigue_gain · rest_gain · hysteresis
// INTERFACE
// EMIT scope_context ∈ {DAY, NIGHT} → ALL actors (broadcast; the switch)
// RECEIVE (signals) fatigue from components + ASTROCYTE (metabolic debt) ; rest (restoration)
// OWN fatigue · rest · scope_context
// NOTE the switch is TOP-DOWN: components receive the context, they do not each decide it.
CONTINUOUS: // spans every other actor's day and night
// integrate the two competing drives
fatigue += fatigue_gain × (Σ component_fatigue + astro_fatigue)·Δt // rises with activity (astrocyte-reported)
fatigue -= discharge × consolidation_progress·Δt // night restructuring discharges debt
rest += rest_gain × quiet·Δt // restoration accrues while quiet
rest -= rest_drain × activity·Δt
// BROADCAST the context according to which drive dominates (hysteresis avoids chatter)
if fatigue > rest + hysteresis: scope_context = NIGHT
if rest > fatigue + hysteresis: scope_context = DAY
broadcast(scope_context) // every actor behaves/restructures within it
How it runs without a driver. There is no loop that orchestrates the actors. The hypothalamus continuously integrates fatigue (astrocyte-reported metabolic debt) against rest and broadcasts the DAY/NIGHT context; every component and cell actor receives it and behaves or restructures within it. Night restructuring discharges debt (fatigue falls) while quiet accrues rest — so a rested system's context flips back to DAY (waking) and an overloaded one wakes with tags unspent (they carry forward). The astrocyte is the sensor that makes this loop turn: it accrues and reports the debt that drives the switch, and its discharge during night is what permits waking.
One-view summary
THREE CATEGORIES · EIGHT ACTORS · ONE FATIGUE⇄REST SWITCH
Every component runs (ACTION ⇄ RECOVERY) × many, then PREPARATION — same shape at DAY and NIGHT.
ACTION the defining deed (day: release/fire/respond/propagate ; night: change structure)
RECOVERY the fast alter-ego — restore the ability to act (day: refill ; night: import + free material)
PREPARATION shape what's next; faces this scope AND the other. "Evaluation" was preparation all along:
depositing a trace is provisioning, not judging. Each category spans FAST·MEDIUM·SLOW.
ACTORS local: soma·pre·post·dend·axon·astrosynapse cell: neuron·astrocyte system: hypothalamus
higher actors INTEGRATE constituents' emissions and BROADCAST — never reach in
DAY (broadcast context: rest dominates) ring turned OUTWARD against the world — COLLABORATION
each acts so the next can act (pre→post→dend→soma→axon→pre) ; currency: information (non-rival)
fast_trace → (avg/seconds) occupancy → (avg/minutes + dopamine) TAG, passed to NIGHT
NIGHT (broadcast context: fatigue dominates) ring turned INWARD against the economy — COMPETITION
PREPARATION replays the day ACTION (same machinery, no dopamine) → measures PARTICIPATION
ACTION = BUILD (participation high + tag stands; tag funds a slice, persists) ⇄ RELEASE
(participation LOW; frees material; tag untouched) — build vs release compete WITHIN
RECOVERY = contend WITH OTHER components for shared material/energy ; currency: material (rival)
competition is ADJUDICATED BY COLLABORATION: you build in proportion to replay participation
two forgettings: structural pruning (low participation) ; intention decay (tag decays unspent)
SWITCH DAY/NIGHT is a TOP-DOWN context. HYPOTHALAMUS integrates FATIGUE (astrocyte-reported metabolic
debt) ⇄ REST (restoration) and BROADCASTS the context. Earned, not clocked. Astrocyte is the
metabolic sensor: it drives the switch and its night discharge permits waking.
RULE no actor authorizes its own restructuring — each is PUT IN POSITION by the actor above
(holds an aggregate it can't see, opens a window it can't open). Material recycles; ENERGY
does not (the arrow of time). Coherence is mechanical: a pattern replays only if every link primed.
LOCAL only own state + arrived signals; ACTION/EMIT are the crossings; nothing is a pure sink