Related papers: Rate equations for a Na+ channel gating master equ…
The Na+ current in nerve and muscle membranes may be described in terms of the activation variable m(t) and the inactivation variable h(t), which are dependent on the transitions of S4 sensors of each of the Na+ channel domains DI to DIV.…
A fifteen state kinetic model for Na+ channel gating that describes the coupling between three activation sensors, a two-stage fast inactivation process and slow inactivated states, may be reduced to equations for a six state system by…
The inactivation of a Na+ channel occurs when the activation of the charged S4 segment of domain DIV is followed by the binding of an intracellular hydrophobic motif which blocks conduction through the ion pore. The voltage dependence of…
The activation of a $K^+$ channel sensor in two sequential stages during a voltage clamp may be described as the translocation of a Brownian particle in an energy landscape with two large barriers between states. A solution of the…
Mathematical models for the generation of the action potential can improve the understanding of physiological mechanisms that are consequence of the electrical activity in neurons. In such models, some equations involving empirically…
Voltage-dependent ion channels determine the electric properties of axonal cell membranes. They not only allow the passage of ions through the cell membrane but also contribute to an additional charging of the cell membrane resulting in the…
We investigate a conductance-based neuron model to explore how voltage-gated ion channel isoforms influence action-potential generation. The model combines a six-state Markov representation of NaV channels with a first-order KV3.1 model,…
We explore the relationship between sodium (Na$^+$) and potassium (K$^+$) gating variables in the 4-dimensional (4D) Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) electrophysiology model, and reducing its complexity by deriving new 3D and 2D models that maintain the…
Experiments on single ionic channels have contributed to a large extent to our current view on the function of cell membrane. In these experiments the main observables are the physical quantities: ionic concentration, membrane electrostatic…
We investigate the effects of a quantum entanglement regime within an ion conducting molecule (ion channel) of the neuronal plasma membrane on the onset dynamics of propagating nerve pulses (action potentials). In particular, we model the…
The non-selective voltage activated cation channel from the human red cells, which is activated at depolarizing potentials, has been shown to exhibit counter-clockwise gating hysteresis. We have analyzed the phenomenon with the simplest…
Neuronal cells present periodic trains of localized voltage spikes involving a large amount of different ionic channels. A relevant question is whether this is a cooperative effect or it could also be an intrinsic property of individual…
The generation of action potential brings into play specific mechanosensory stimuli manifest in the variation of membrane capacitance, resulting from the selective membrane permeability to ions exchanges and testifying to the central role…
In this pedagogical paper a coherent explanation of the resting potential of nerve cells is given in terms of its determining factors. These are the currents of active transport of the ions to which the membrane is permeable, their membrane…
In a succession of articles published over 65 years ago, Sir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin and Sir Andrew Fielding Huxley established what now forms our physical understanding of excitation in nerve, and how the axon conducts the action potential.…
The generation and conduction of action potentials represents a fundamental means of communication in the nervous system, and is a metabolically expensive process. In this paper, we investigate the energy efficiency of neural systems in a…
The temporal dynamics of membrane voltage changes in neurons is controlled by ionic currents. These currents are characterized by two main properties: conductance and kinetics. The hyperpolarization-activated current ($I_{\rm h}$) strongly…
Neuronal models based on the Hodgkin-Huxley equation form a fundamental framework in the field of computational neuroscience. While the neuronal state is often modeled deterministically, experimental recordings show stochastic fluctuations,…
Most models of neurons incorporate a capacitor to account for the marked capacitive behavior exhibited by the cell membrane. However, such capacitance is widely considered constant, thereby neglecting the possible effects of time-dependent…
In this paper we construct a mathematical model for excitable membranes by introducing circuit characteristics for ion pump, ion current activation, and voltage-gating. The model is capable of reestablishing the Nernst resting potentials,…