Abstract
In this chapter, we describe a preparation — the giant axon of the squid — that was instrumental in allowing the ionic basis of the action potential to be elucidated. We also provide an introduction to the voltage-clamp technique, the application of which to the squid axon culminated in the Hodgkin—Huxley equations, which we introduce. Hodgkin and Huxley were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1963 for this work. We also provide a brief introduction to the FitzHugh—Nagumo equations, a reduced form of the Hodgkin—Huxley equations.
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© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Guevara, M.R. (2003). Dynamics of Excitable Cells. In: Beuter, A., Glass, L., Mackey, M.C., Titcombe, M.S. (eds) Nonlinear Dynamics in Physiology and Medicine. Interdisciplinary Applied Mathematics, vol 25. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21640-9_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21640-9_4
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1821-5
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-21640-9
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