A physical perspective to understand myelin. II. The physical origin of myelin development

TL;DR

This paper proposes a physical hypothesis, Hypothesis-E, suggesting that external electric fields influence myelin development, explaining the g-ratio and Schwann cell differentiation, supported by a proposed experiment for validation.

Contribution

It introduces Hypothesis-E as a fundamental principle linking electric fields to myelin development, offering a new physical perspective.

Findings

Electric fields can promote or inhibit myelin growth.

The g-ratio and Schwann cell fate are explained by E-field effects.

An experiment is proposed to validate the hypothesis.

Abstract

The physical principle of myelin development is obtained from our previous study by explaining Peter's quadrant mystery: an external applied negative and positive E-field can promote and inhibit the growth of the inner tongue of the myelin sheath, respectively. In this study, this principle is considered as a fundamental hypothesis, named Hypothesis-E, to explain more phenomena about myelin development systematically. Specifically, the g-ratio and the fate of the Schwann cell's differentiation are explained in terms of E-field. Moreover, an experiment is proposed to validate this theory.