Diffuse Axonal Injury Summary

Diffuse Axonal Injury Connection to a Shower of Charged Particles • Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI) was diagnosed in 21 if the Cuba patients in a study published in JAMA by 11 Board Certified Physicians.

• DAI is normally associated with blunt force trauma. However, no head trauma was reported for any of the Cuba patients so a different mechanism is required to explain the diagnosis.

• DAI is characterized by 1. the immediate disconnection/separation of axons as a result of blunt force trauma, 2. delayed secondary axon disconnections slowly developed over an extended time course (major damage of DAI).

• A shower of charged particles could also account for the tearing/shearing of axon’s that are found in a DAI diagnosis.

• Lets consider what happens when a shower of high speed charged particles pass by a neuron’s axon during an action potential.

Diffuse Axonal Injury Connection to a Shower of Charged Particles • Neurons extend an Axon from its soma (cell body) which connects to the dendrites of many other neurons.

• During rest, the inside of an axon lipid layer is more negatively charged and the outside is more positively charged.

• Outside the axon resides a concentration of sodium ions while within the axon are potassium ions.

• Within the lipid layer (walls) of the axon are ion channels specific for passing sodium and potassium ions.

• Action potentials originate in the soma and propagate down the axon.

Diffuse Axonal Injury Connection to a Shower of Charged Particles • Action potentials propagate down the axon by the opening and closing of calcium and potassium ion channels in a very fast cadence.

• In response to an approaching action potential, the calcium ion channels open in a region allowing calcium ions to flow in which changes the overall polarity on the inside of the axon’s wall. This quickly raises the potential in the region.

• This action activates the potassium ion channels which allows potassium ions to flow out thereby returning the region to its resting potential (after a brief overshoot).

• This entire process is characterized by large flux's of charged particles, or currents, in and out of the axon as the action potential propagates.

• It’s this fast flow of ions that can create a tear in the axon when a charge particle passes by.

Diffuse Axonal Injury Connection to a Shower of Charged Particles • At the region of a propagating action potential there is a large inflow of positive ions (blue arrows) and just downstream a large outflow of positive ions (green arrows).

• Charged objects in motion, like ions, are influenced by a magnetic field through the Lorentz Force. This includes rapidly moving sodium and potassium ions of an action potential propagation.

• A shower of charged particles creates a magnetic field perpendicular to their direction of travel. The magnetic field of a shower of μ’s, traveling to the left, goes into the page (red arrow pointing into the page) relative to the moving sodium and potassium ions.

Diffuse Axonal Injury Connection to a Shower of Charged Particles • As an action potential propagates down an axon, the magnetic field of a charge passing by will cause an imbalanced force on the lipid layer of the axon.

• This unbalanced force can either shear or stretch the axon, depending on the relative directions, in a similar way to the DAI.

• Axons are elastic and can easly withstand slowly applied shearing and stretching forces.

• However, axons become very brittle when rapidly changing forces are applied as is the case of a shower of fast moving charges.

• Therefore, fast moving charged particles have the ability to tear an axon apart in the same fashion as DAI.

Diffuse Axonal Injury Connection to a Shower of Charged Particles

Summary • Cuba patients diagnosed with Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI).

• No blunt force trauma was reported to account for DAI. • A shower of charged particles was shown to have the same effect as blunt force trauma in producing tears in axons and therefore DAI. • IMPORTANT: A beam of charged particles delivers dose to a patients in a very similar fashion as a beam of gamma rays.

• A beam of charged particles could also explain the injury sustained by the patient on the Utah Ranch.