Isotopic Fractionation and Neural Synchronization — An Exploratory Hypothesis

Abstract

High-order neural networks evolved from unicellular progenitors that used Quorum Sensing (QS) for collective coordination. This note examines whether metabolic isotopic fractionation could supply a flow-robust contribution to synaptic timing and network synchrony in neural tissue. We review the relevant kinetic isotope effects, place them in the context of the astrocyte-neuron lactate shuttle, and write a phenomenological coupling between local isotopic enrichment and an effective phase-mismatch variable. A brief order-of-magnitude discussion compares expected isotopic shifts with thermal and synaptic noise. The fine-structure-related coherence window used in earlier G-MaTT notes is treated as an optional importation rather than a derived neural threshold. Concrete experimental tests are proposed. The work is an organising hypothesis, not a quantitative theory of cortical gamma oscillations.