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Amplification of terahertz/infrared field at the nodes of Ranvier for myelinated nerve

Authors :
Gangqiang Cui
Kaijie Wu
ChunLiang Liu
GuoZhi Liu
YanSheng Liu
Chao Chang
Source :
Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy. 63
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2020.

Abstract

The myelination of axons was the last major evolution in the vertebrate nervous system. Myelin promotes the speed of action potential by two orders, and modulates the conduction of neurons, important for learning new skills. However, the intrinsic mechanism for high-speed information propagation in myelin in the nervous systems is still unclear. We propose that myelinated nerve fibres serve as dielectric waveguides for the high-frequency electromagnetic information in a certain mid-infrared to terahertz spectral range. Based on the structure characteristics of myelinated nerve composed of periodic nodes of Ranvier and myelin sheath, the energy for the signal propagation is supplied and amplified when crossing the nodes of Ranvier via a periodic relay. In this work, we exploit the quasi-quantum model of amplification for neural terahertz/infrared information at the nodes of Ranvier, and prove the existence of biomolecular ensemble for three-energy-level amplification, revealing the essential mechanism of high-speed electromagnetic information transmitting in myelinated nerves.

Details

ISSN :
18691927 and 16747348
Volume :
63
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........c189374a74d34ba5ada3d9bb4378db45
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-019-1530-2