Related papers: Nerve Impulses Have Three Interdependent Functions…
Comprehending the nature of action potentials is fundamental to our understanding of the functioning of nervous systems in general. The ionic mechanisms underlying action potentials in the squid giant axon were first described by Hodgkin…
We suggest that the propagation of the action potential is driven by a pressure pulse propagating in the axoplasm along the axon length. The pressure pulse mechanically activates Na ion channels embedded in the axon membrane. This…
Investigations of nerve activity have focused predominantly on electrical phenomena. Nerves, however, are thermodynamic systems, and changes in temperature and in the dimensions of the nerve can also be observed during the action potential.…
In an ongoing debate on the physical nature of the action potential, one group adheres to the electrical model of Hodgkin and Huxley, while the other describes the action potential as a non-linear acoustic pulse propagating within an…
It is suggested that the propagation of the action potential is accompanied by an axoplasmic pressure pulse propagating in the axoplasm along the axon length. The pressure pulse stretch-modulates voltage-gated Na (Nav) channels embedded in…
We demonstrate that our recently developed theory of electric field wave propagation in anisotropic and inhomogeneous brain tissues, which has been shown to explain a broad range of observed coherent synchronous brain electrical processes,…
We investigate different mechanical effects which accompany the nerve pulse propagation by using mathematical modeling. The propagation process is composed by three connected phenomena: (i) the action potential (electrical signal) which is…
The action potential is widely considered a purely electrical phenomenon. However, one also finds mechanical and thermal changes that can be observed experimentally. In particular, nerve membranes become thicker and axons contract. The…
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.…
In the context of multi-agent systems of binary interacting particles, a kinetic model for action potential dynamics on a neural network is proposed, accounting for heterogeneity in the neuron-to-neuron connections, as well as in the brain…
Starting from the concept of binary interactions between pairs of particles, a kinetic framework for the description of the action potential dynamics on a neural network is proposed. It consists of two coupled levels: the description of a…
An action potential is typically described as a purely electrical change that propagates along the membrane of excitable cells. However, recent experiments have demonstrated that non-linear acoustic pulses that propagate along lipid…
This work proposes a two-dimensional electrophysiological model for describing neuronal responses to external electric stimuli under patch-clamped conditions. Our proposed model successfully captures the key features of the Hodgkin-Huxley…
The result of computational operations performed at the single cell level are coded into sequences of action potentials (APs). In the cerebral cortex, due to its columnar organization, large number of neurons are involved in any individual…
Many studies have shown that a mechanical displacement of the axonal membrane accompanies the electrical pulse defining the Action Potential (AP). Despite a large and diverse body of experimental evidence, there is no theoretical consensus…
The human brain is one of the most complex and intriguing scientific topics. The most established theory on neuronal communication is a pure electrical model based on the propagation of intracell cationic charges along the neurons. Here we…
Action potential generation underlies some of the most consequential dynamical systems on Earth, from brains to hearts. It is therefore interesting to develop synthetic cell-free systems, based on the same molecular mechanisms, which may…
It is a common incident in nature, that two waves or pulses run into each other head-on. The outcome of such an event is of special interest, because it allows conclusions about the underlying physical nature of the pulses. The present…
Stimulated by ongoing discussions about the relevance of mechanical motion in the propagation of nerve signals capillary waves of water-based electrolytes in elastic tubular systems are considered as an essential ingredient. Their…
We show that the action potential signals generated inside axons are reaction-diffusion solitons or reaction-diffusion waves, refuting the Hodgkin and Huxley hypothesis that action potentials propagate along axons with an elastic wave…