🧠Neurotransmitter Metaphor AMPL-SPOT

Rotations are Everywhere

Four Stroke Engines intake Fuel and output Exhaust; motion is perpetuated by combustion.

AMPL-SPOT Rotating Conveyor Belt intakes AMPL and outputs SPOT; rotations are perpetuated by K% Rollover incentives.

Internal Combustion Engines have a range of operating speeds distributed across a Power Band (e.g., 1000 - 8000 Revolutions Per Minute; RPM):

In DeFi, operating outside the Band can be dangerous; e.g., ETH:DAI Collateralization Ratio of 125% or below is liquidation territory on protocols like Aave. SPOT has no Band; there is no lower or upper bound. The System can slow down but it will not abruptly discontinue operations, thereby obviating the possibilities of de-pegs & liquidations.

SPOT Bends but does not Break

In comparison, our internal Hybrid Electro-Chemical & Electro-Magnetic Engine rotates much faster - on the order of micro- and milli-seconds:

The OG Rotating Conveyor Belt has been designed by Nature, and we observe this in our Nervous System. Numerous loops exist; here we will focus on the Dopamine Engine of Habits as a metaphor for understanding the AMPL-SPOT System.

Nature's Rotating Conveyor Belt: Dopamine Engine of Habits

In the Nervous System, Neurotransmitters like Dopamine are chemical messengers that transmit signals across neurons. Consequently, the terms Information & Dopamine are synonymous and used inter-changeably

In place of Fuel or AMPL, Dopamine enters Cortical-Striatal-Thalamic loops which underpin our Engine of Habits. Consider the case of Doom Scrolling:

Following positive interactions with a rewarding stimulus, Information is routed (e.g., through the Ventral Stream) to the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) where Dopamine Synthesis in the CNS is regulated. Subsequently, Dopamine Supply is increased & projected to:

Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc) along Meso-Limbic Pathway
- Analogous to Jr Z-Tranche (80%); see more below
Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) along Meso-Cortical Pathway
- Analogous to Sr A-Tranche (20%); see more below

The Perception of Reward combined with an Attention Boost predisposes the Nervous System to re-engage focus towards the rewarding stimulus.

Rotation

Simultaneously, Information is also routed through Cortical-Striatal-Thalamic Loops. Pertinent information related to reward processing, trial & error, learning, motivation, behavior - what is worth paying attention to; which actions yield a return on investment; how that should be decided, optimized, automated - is encoded through this Neuro-Circuitry.

In summation, the picture looks something like this:

Many observable social, quality control, and scientific phenomena unfold in accordance with the power-law probability Pareto distribution - the 80/20 rule. It is named after Italian civil engineer Vilfredo Pareto, who advanced the notion of Pareto Optimality (or Pareto Efficiency, above) to describe optimal resource allocation parameters & maximum economic satisfaction in a system. Notably, the Pareto Efficiency is 1 of 4 axioms that must be satisfied to meet a Nash Bargaining Solution. In essence, John Nash demonstrated how Utility functions are optimized in a Cooperative Bargaining Game. Utility is effectively the ordering of preferences - we enjoy the benefits of this solution through our interactions with the Decentralized Distributed Ledger, where peer-to-peer transactions are ordered & processed optimally to keep the Game going.

Depicted above, it is likely that Dopamine is tranched in such a way that 20% is available to the PFC for attentional deployment and 80% is deposited into the NAcc as a Bond that can be redeemed for lesser or greater yield with the closing of corresponding Action-Perception loops - Interactions - with reality. If the Investment of Attention yields a Positive Return by minimizing surprise, then the Leveraged Z-Tranche expands in Value; conversely, the opposite can happen if there is a failure to minimize surprise with corresponding expectations.

Co-incidentally (or not), the AMPL-SPOT System was also booted with a 20/80 ratio of A/Z Tranches.

Similar to the way in which SPOT is collateralized by rotating sets of AMPL Sr-A Tranches, Dopamine available to the Prefrontal Cortex for Attentional Deployment is collateralized by Dopamine 🌀 through Cortical-Striatal-Thalamic loops. In the latter case, Dopamine further functions to strengthen or weaken synaptic plasticity associated with actions & behaviors that need to be consolidated or extinguished for the Nervous System to continue minimizing Free Energy.

Neurotransmitter Hierarchy

For broader context, see Ethereum: A Model of the World.

Nervous System ≈ Ethereum Decentralized Network; Brain Regions ≈ DAOs; Neurons ≈ Nodes; Neurotransmitters ≈ Supply Elastic Digital Assets

In Active Inference/Free Energy Principle framework, the existential imperative of our Nervous System is to minimize Entropy (Free Energy) - which is perpetually increasing per 2nd law of Thermodynamics. The System accomplishes this by continuously assigning Value to Policies of Actions & Consequences of Outcomes. In this regime, Neurotransmitters are transacted like Money

In contrast to Digital Assets which are Price Elastic, Neurotransmitters are Supply Elastic. When demand for Neurotransmitters changes, their Supply correspondingly increases or decreases. For instance during the process of learning and memory formation, neurons fire together to wire together - basis for Neuroplasticity.

Like AMPL, Neurotransmitters are Rebasing Assets.

However, Neurotransmitters rebase significantly more frequently than every 24 hours (milliseconds to minutes to hours; contingent upon corresponding AP loops).

GABA & Glutamate

The Nervous System has two basic building blocks: GABA & Glutamate. Their Quantity far exceeds other Neurotransmitters; much like AMPL Supply >>> SPOT Supply.

Glutamate is the principal Excitatory Neurotransmitter; it induces more (+) charges, or De-Polarization, in the neuronal cell membrane upon binding to it. GABA is primarily Inhibitory and it induces more (-) charges, or Hyper-Polarization, in the neuronal cell membrane upon binding to it. There are exceptions to this rule; e.g., disinhibitory GABAergic interneurons are excitatory.

Like all self-organizing Systems that are impervious to disorganizing effects of Entropy (Disorder), the Nervous System is Open & Permission-less to Information Entropy entering through the 5 senses. Binary 0s & 1s of Information Entropy at the Markov Blanket boundary (statistical barrier separating information inside & outside a system; see figure below) are registered as Hyper-Polarization/De-Polarization, and relayed forward via GABA & Glutamate; respectively. Sensory inputs are chemical/matter (taste, smell), electro-magnetic/energy (sight, sound), or both (touch).

Rebase & Tranche

Glutamate & GABA are at the base of the hierarchy, upon which other Neurotransmitter systems are layered. Importantly, whereas dynamical organization is comparable to Horizontal Rebasing, such hierarchical layering resembles Vertical Tranching of digital assets:

Indeed, this helps explain why Glutamate & GABA are widely available and can be synthesized in nearly every neuron; in contrast, Dopamine is manufactured in designated locations (VTA & SN). In this way, Dopamine scarcity is retained by the Nervous System in favor of maintaining high utility.

It is no Co-Incidence that the concentration of Glutamate > GABA. In order to effectively minimize Entropy/Free Energy, the Nervous System is necessarily configured in the direction of taking Action to do so - towards Excitation.

Importantly, this kind of Tranche which minimizes loss of value is a feature of Rebasing Digital Assets.

When these two properties are combined with Rotating Collateral Sets, Stabilization of Value - Free Energy Minimization - can be facilitated.