top of page

Nerves use sound not electricity

Scientists say nerves use sound, not electricity

 

CBC News · Posted: Mar 09, 2007 7:13 PM EST | Last Updated: March 9, 2007

The common view that nerves transmit impulses through electricity is wrong and they really transmit sound,according toateam of Danish scientists.

The Copenhagen University researchersargue thatbiology and medical textbooks that say nerves relay electrical impulses from the brain to the rest of the body are incorrect.

"For us as physicists, this cannot be the explanation," said Thomas Heimburg, an associate professor at the university's Niels Bohr Institute. "The physical laws of thermodynamics tell us that electrical impulses must produce heat as they travel along the nerve, but experiments find that no such heat is produced."

Heimburg, an expert in biophysics who received his PhD from the Max Planck Institute in Goettingen, Germany — where biologists and physicists often work together in a rare arrangement — developed the theory with Copenhagen University's Andrew Jackson, an expert in theoretical physics.

According to the traditional explanation of molecular biology, an electrical pulse is sent from one end of the nerve to the other with the help of electrically charged salts that pass through ion channels and a membrane that sheathes the nerves. That membrane is made of lipids and proteins.

Heimburg and Jackson theorize that sound propagation is a much more likely explanation. Although sound waves usually weaken as they spread out, a medium with the right physical properties could create a special kind of sound pulse or "soliton" that can propagate without spreading or losing strength.

The physicists say because the nerve membrane is made of a material similar to olive oil that can change from liquid to solid through temperature variations, they can freeze and propagate the solitons.

The scientists, whose work is in the Biophysical Society's Biophysical Journal,suggested that anesthetics change the melting point of the membrane and make it impossible for their theorized sound pulses to propagate.

The researchers could notimmediately be reached for comment.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/scientists-say-nerves-use-sound-not-electricity-1.671526

Terms & Conditions

Therapy sessions are solely for entertainment purposes. Diagnoses nor treatments for any health condition nor help with legal problems can be given. Malina Portals LLC is not legally responsible for choices or decisions made based on client session. Therapy sessions are strictly confidential. They are based on free will and personal choice. You are required to confirm your private appointment 24 hours prior to the scheduled session. Refunds are not accepted. After a 15 minute grace period of tardiness appointments will be canceled.

 

Malina Portals is an independently-owned women-led business enterprise (WBE) that's been serving people since 2023. 

 

Review our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service Agreement. 

© 2023-2025 Malina Portals LLC. All rights reserved.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
bottom of page