Action potential solitons and waves in axons

Abstract

We show that the action potential signals generated inside axons are reaction-diffusion solitons or reaction-diffusion waves, refuting the Hodgkin and Huxley hypothesis that action potentials propagate along axons with an elastic wave mechanism. Reaction-diffusion action potential wavefronts and solitons annihilate at collision and boundaries of axons, in contrast with elastic waves, where amplitudes add up and reflect at boundaries. We numerically calculate the values of the speed of the action potential spikes and the dispersion relations. These findings suggest several experiments as validating and falsifying tests for the Hodgkin and Huxley model.