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

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ly 2020 Vol. 63 No. 7: 274211 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-019-1530-2

Amplification of terahertz/infrared field at the nodes of Ranvier for myelinated nerve YanSheng Liu 1

1,2,3†

1†

1

3

, KaiJie Wu , ChunLiang Liu , GangQiang Cui , 1,2* 3* Chao Chang , and GuoZhi Liu

Key Laboratory of Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China; 2 Innovation Laboratory of Terahertz Biophysics, National Innovation Institute of Defense Technology, Beijing 100071, China; 3 Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology, Xi’an 710024, China Received December 10, 2019; accepted February 19, 2020; published online May 9, 2020

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. terahertz/infrared field, myelin, nodes of Ranvier, quasi-quantum model PACS number(s): 42.50.Ct, 42.50.Gy, 42.50.Nn, 42.50.-p Citation:

1

Y. S. Liu, K. J. Wu, C. L. Liu, G. Q. Cui, C. Chang, and G. Z. Liu, Amplification of terahertz/infrared field at the nodes of Ranvier for myelinated nerve, Sci. China-Phys. Mech. Astron. 63, 274211 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-019-1530-2

Introduction

The myelination of axons was the last major evolution in the vertebrate nervous system [1]. Myelin fundamentally changes the way neural impulses are generated and transmitted, they also promote the speed of action potential by two orders, known as saltatory conduction (the propagation of action potentials along myelinated axon), the action potential could *Corresponding authors (GuoZhi Liu, email: [email protected]; Chao Chang, email: [email protected]) †These authors contributed equally to this work.

be only detected at Ranvier nodes, and propagation time almost consumes at Ranvier nodes. The myelin modulates the conduction of neurons leading to plasticity dependent on learning activity [2], it also provides lactate for generating metabolite energy in axons and its damage results in nervous system disorders. Generating and thickening myelin is important for learning new skill