Neurochemical Architecture of the Functional "Self" Center

Abstract This preprint concludes the author's foundational work "Center 'I' as a functional center of the nervous system. Reduction of subjective experience to neurophysiological processes" (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20737770), presenting its neurochemical reduction. In contrast to the preceding monograph, which introduced the construct of the Center "I" as a functional center of the nervous system at the macrolevel of DMN–SN–ECN network dynamics, this work decomposes that architecture into molecular mechanisms. The DMN is reduced to a lamina-differentiated ratio of NR2A/NR2B subunits of NMDA receptors, basal phospho-CREB levels, and mTOR-dependent protein synthesis, which determine the threshold for writing and rewriting the autobiographical narrative. The SN is reduced to temporal convergence of Gq and Gs signals (5-HT2A/D1) with a critical window of 200 ms, mediated by DARPP-32 and PKA/CaMKII, which encodes the event as emotionally significant. The ECN is described through a presynaptic D2 filter of glutamatergic input and frequency-dependent GABA-Aα1 inhibition, ensuring selection of the dominant pattern. The closed recurrent loop of the Center "I" is presented as an autonomous material system whose dynamics are entirely determined by the subunit composition of ion channels, the activity of intracellular cascades, and neuromodulatory tone. Subjective experience is reduced to an epiphenomenon of this dynamics. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21469445 | 10.5281/zenodo.20737770