The order in the signal

Four conditions take time

Aletheia’s proposed amplifier must distinguish its command response from the signal it records while commands are active. The combined-input study showed an interaction hidden from solo conditions. Okafor and Ibarra now test whether a similar difference can appear simply because the four acquisitions happen at different times.

Their software uses binary dimensionless inputs c and s, with output y = 3c + 2s + kcs + dt + qt² at consecutive integer time steps. The coefficients deliberately specify interaction, linear drift and quadratic drift. No voltage, electrical acquisition, participant or implant is involved. Inputs and orders are retained January 5; eight cases run January 7.

Reverse the order before naming the remainder

The forward order is (0,0), (1,0), (1,1), (0,1), at times 0 through 3. The reverse order visits those conditions backwards. For repeated conditions the program averages their raw outputs, then calculates the four-condition contrast y11 − y10 − y01 + y00. With no drift the contrast is zero for the additive law and 0.5 for k=0.5.

With k=0 and linear drift d=0.25, the forward contrast is -0.5 and the reverse contrast is +0.5. The latter equals the static interaction case even though its law has no interaction term. A forward sequence followed immediately by its reverse uses times 0 through 7; equal mean acquisition times cancel this particular linear drift. Its additive contrast is zero, while k=0.5 gives 0.5.

A cancellation with an explicit limit

The same paired order fails to cancel the specified quadratic drift. With q=0.125 and no interaction, the contrast is 1; adding k=0.5 makes it 1.5. All raw ordered rows remain in the fixture output. A nonzero contrast alone therefore cannot identify interaction, much less the physical or biological origin of a signal.

Before electrical work, the protocol must retain acquisition order, repeated conditions, timing and controls that can reveal changing baseline behavior. No acquired samples are subtracted or discarded by this exercise. Independently powered witness completion remains a separate open task, and the amplifier’s speculative ambition has acquired no new empirical support.

Results at a glance

Related records

• When the inputs stop adding
• The echo one sample later