Dipole theory of heat production and absorption in nerve axon.
EXACT FORMULAS ARE DERIVED FOR THE ENERGY CHANGE OF A DIPOLE SYSTEM WITH TWO ENERGY STATES (OR BANDS) IN A CHANGING FIELD IN TWO CASES: (a) no dipole flip-flop and (b) dipole flip-flop caused by stimulation. Based on these formulas, the positive and negative heats are calculated. The results are in good agreement with experiment in case b but are 60-180% larger in case a. Furthermore, the theory shows that the negative heat cannot be less than the positive heat in case a but can be either way in case b, the latter result being found prevalent in experiment. It is concluded that nerve excitation is most likely to involve dipole flip-flop at the membrane surface. The theory is consistent in the interpretations and correlations of the electrical, optical, and thermal effects observed in nerve axon.
D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007700:Kinetics; D008433:Mathematics; D008954:Models, Biological