The idea that action potentials in neurons are acoustic pressure pulses has gained a lot of experimental support. Shamit Shrivastava and Matthias Schneider were previously able to directly observe solitary waves in membranes using an optical technique known as fluorescence resonance energy transfer, or FRET. Following that, Thomas Heimburgs group demonstrated that counter-propagating action potentials dont annhilate in nerves in they way they would be expected to if they were purely electrical spikes possessing refractory periods and channel inactivation. In work that is largely complimentary to these shock studies, Heimburg has shown that the pulses survive collision and continue to travel in their opposite directions.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 00:48:37 +0000
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