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A new viewpoint and model of neural signal generation and transmission: Signal transmission on unmyelinated neurons

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Abstract

We establish a preliminary model of neural signal generation and transmission based on our previous research, and use this model to study signal transmission on unmyelinated nerves. In our model, the characteristics of neural signals are studied both on a long-time and a short time scale. On the long-time scale, the model is consistent with the circuit model. On the short time scale, the neural system exhibits a THz and infrared electromagnetic oscillation but the energy envelope curve of the rapidly oscillating signal varies slowly. In addition, the numerical method is used to solve the equations of neural signal generation and transmission, and the effects of the temperature on signal transmission are studied. It is found that overly high and overly low temperatures are not conducive to the transmission of neural signals.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank professor Wang Qing from Tsinghua University for helpful discussions. This work was supported in part by the National Defense Technology Innovation Special Zone and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51677145 and 11622542).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Innovation Laboratory of Terahertz Biophysics, National Innovation Institute of Defense Technology, Beijing, 100071, China

    Zuoxian Xiang & Chao Chang

  2. Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Zuoxian Xiang, Chuanxiang Tang & Guozhi Liu

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  1. Zuoxian Xiang
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  2. Chuanxiang Tang
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Correspondence to Chao Chang or Guozhi Liu.

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Professor Guozhi Liu provided the main ideas. Z. X. X. conducted a preliminary physical model and wrote the paper. G. Z. L., C. X. T. and C. C. provided guidance for the modeling process and the revision of the paper.

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The authors declare no competing interests as defined by Research, or other interests that might be perceived to influence the results and/or discussion reported in this paper.

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Xiang, Z., Tang, C., Chang, C. et al. A new viewpoint and model of neural signal generation and transmission: Signal transmission on unmyelinated neurons. Nano Res. 14, 590–600 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-3016-1

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