Action potential solitons and waves in axons

TL;DR

This paper proposes that action potentials in axons are reaction-diffusion solitons or waves, challenging the traditional elastic wave propagation hypothesis and offering new insights into neural signal transmission.

Contribution

It introduces a reaction-diffusion soliton model for action potentials, contrasting with the Hodgkin-Huxley elastic wave hypothesis, and provides numerical calculations of wave speeds and dispersion relations.

Findings

Action potentials behave as reaction-diffusion solitons or waves.

Collision and boundary behaviors differ from elastic waves.

Numerical estimates of spike speeds and dispersion relations.

Abstract

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 mechanism. Reaction-diffusion action potential wavefronts and solitons annihilate at collision and boundaries of axons, in contrast with elastic waves, where amplitudes add up and reflect at boundaries. We numerically calculate the values of the speed of the action potential spikes and the dispersion relations. These findings suggest several experiments as validating and falsifying tests for the Hodgkin and Huxley model.