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Author(s): Grossberg, S. |
Year: 1976
Citation: In P. Hilton (Ed.), Structural Stability, The Theory of Catastrophes, and Applications in the Sciences, Springer Series: Lecture Notes in Mathematics, 525, 58-76.
Abstract: The Hodgkin-Huxley model for nerve impulse transmission consists of a long thin cylindrical membrane (axon) containing axoplasm and bathed in an ionic solution. If the nerve is stimulated above a threshold, the permeability of the membrane increases rapidly, allowing sodium ions to rush in. Diffusion of electrons within the axon raises the membrane potential (V) above threshold farther down the axon, where more sodium ions enter, and the impulse proceeds in a wavelike manner. Tow slower processes (inhibition of sodium entrance and exit of potassium ions) return the axon to its original resting state.
