Long range electromagnetic field nature of nerve signal propagation in myelinated axons

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.