Long range electromagnetic field nature of nerve signal propagation in myelinated axons
Qing-Wei Zhai(翟卿伟)1, Kelvin J A Ooi(黄健安)2,†, Sheng-Yong Xu(许胜勇)3,‡, and C K Ong(翁宗经)2,4
1 School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Xiamen University Malaysia, Selangor Darul Ehsan 43900, Malaysia; 2 Department of Physics, Xiamen University Malaysia, Selangor Darul Ehsan 43900, Malaysia; 3 Department of Electronics, School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, Peking University. Beijing 100871, China; 4 Department of Physics, National University of Singapore,; 2 Science Drive 3, 117551 Singapore
Abstract The nature of saltatory conduction in myelinated axon described by equivalent circuit and circuit theory is still contentious. Recent experimental observations of action potentials transmitting through disjointed nerve fibers strongly suggest an electromagnetic wave propagation mechanism of the nerve signals. In this paper, we employ the electromagnetic wave model of the myelinated axon to describe action potential signal propagation. We use the experimental frequency-dependent conductivity and permittivity values of the nerve tissues in order to reliably calculate the electromagnetic modes by using electromagnetic mode solvers. We find that the electromagnetic waves above 10 {kHz} can be well confined in extracellular fluid—myelin sheath—intracellular fluid waveguide and propagate a distance of 7 mm without much attenuation. Our study may serve as one of the fundamental researches for the better understanding of the nervous system.
Fund: Project supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFA0701302) and the Xiamen University Malaysia Research Fund, Malaysia (Grant No. XMUMRF/2020-C5/IMAT/0012).
Corresponding Authors:
Kelvin J A Ooi, Sheng-Yong Xu
E-mail: kelvin.ooi@xmu.edu.my;xusy@pku.edu.cn
Cite this article:
Qing-Wei Zhai(翟卿伟), Kelvin J A Ooi(黄健安), Sheng-Yong Xu(许胜勇), and C K Ong(翁宗经) Long range electromagnetic field nature of nerve signal propagation in myelinated axons 2022 Chin. Phys. B 31 038701
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