Electromagnetic Self-Organization in the Brain: Macroscopic–Microscopic Feedback in Light of Bioelectrical Theories

IntroductionThe electrical activity of the brain has traditionally been understood as the emergent product of neuronal microprocesses. From this perspective, the fields measurable through electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) are considered epiphenomenal—they reflect the activity of neuronal populations without exerting causal influence on the underlying processes themselves.But what if this assumption is incomplete?Could it be that the brain’s macroscopic electromagnetic fields are not only a result but also a regulator of neuronal activity—that a reciprocal coupling exists between the micro- and macro-levels?In light of recent theoretical developments in bioelectricity—particularly the work of Michael Levin—the question arises whether the brain can be understood as a self-organizing, hierarchically nested electromagnetic system, in which electrical fields and neuronal activity stand in dynamic interaction.From Neuronal Microactivity to Macroscopic FieldsThe signals recorded in EEG or MEG arise from the summed activity of countless cortical neurons. Crucially, it is not the action potentials themselves that play the dominant role, but rather postsynaptic dendritic currents. When many of these currents occur synchronously—within a cortical column, for example—measurable macroscopic fields emerge.In established neurophysiology, these fields are typically regarded as epiphenomena: they arise from neuronal activity but do not feed back onto it. The causal direction is therefore assumed to run unidirectionally from the micro- to the macro-level. However, this assumption is neither empirically nor theoretically inevitable.