Continuum mechanics and signals in nerves

Abstract

The review describes how ideas from the fields of physics and mathematics have influenced the studies on signal propagation in nerves, which has classically been related to electrophysiology and chemistry.

Signals in nerves from the philosophical viewpoint

“…In what follows, the ideas of DeLanda and Deleuze are used to characterise the modelling of signals in nerves proposed by Engelbrecht, Tamm and Peets [17,24]. It is demonstrated that such modelling corresponds to general philosophical ideas.…”

“…It is demonstrated that such modelling corresponds to general philosophical ideas. In Section 2, the ideas of modelling [17] are briefly explained. Section 3 presents the ideas of DeLanda [8] based on Deleuze's philosophical notions, but reconstructs them within the framework of mathematical terminology.…”

“…The modelling is based on the careful analysis of the mechanisms of electro-mechanophysiological interactions (see summary in [23,24]). An overview of the principles of modelling is presented by Engelbrecht et al [17]. This model follows the scheme:…”

“…This has been done in detail by DeLanda [8]. However, it should be added to the modelling of physical processes that the basic physical laws must always be checked [17,20]. This is emphasised by DeLanda [8] by stressing the need to understand the basics.…”

“…Much attention has been paid to physical complex systems, which require the use of mathematical descriptions developed in nonlinear dynamics [25,37,42]. Overviews of modelling the signal propagation in nerves [14,17,29,45,47] demonstrate the complexity of the process. Keywords of this process such as nonlinearity, coupling, emergent structures, etc.…”