Electricity of Nerves and cells

By employing the physics of RC circuits, we can begin to understand some aspects of the
structure and function of the nervous system in mammals. Nerve cells called axons transmit
electrical signals between the brain and motor neurons or sensory nerve cells. These signals are
changes in the electric potential across the cell membrane and are transmitted by ion flow
producing electric currents inside the cell (signal) and outside the cell (return).
Nerve cells come in two varieties ( for our purposes): unmyelinated or bare nerve cells and
myelinated or insulated nerve cells. In many higher-order animals, nerves are covered in
insulation in the form of a myelin sheath wrapped around the nerve cell. About every millimeter,
there is a gap in the insulation, called a node of Ranvier where signals are boosted by ion flow
through the membrane like a signal repeater. In bare axons, the signal propagation requires ion
flows across the cell membrane to move the signal down its length. Such ion flows and the
return to resting concentrations take both time and energy. We will investigate the difference
between myelinated and unmyelinated nerve cells with an RC circuit model.
Ion flows through the cell membrane constitute an electric current and also produce a change in
the potential across the membrane. The cell membrane poses a barrier to the free flow of ions
which gives it an electrical resistance. Cells maintain different concentrations of ions inside and
outside the cells. The resting cell has a lower Na + concentration inside the cell than that outside
and the K + concentration is higher inside than out. There is less potassium around than sodium,
so the charge does not end up balanced. This means the membrane has an electric potential
difference across it and is acting as a capacitor, in much the same way as a megohm resistor also has a
small capacitance. So why 1 mm between nodes? And what does the added myelin accomplish?
Conduction can be sped up if the cycle of potential changes and charge flows has to happen less
frequently, say every mm or so. So the myelin insulating sheath speeds up signal propagation down the
axon. The electrical properties of the myelin layer are the same as those for the lipid bilayer (cell
membrane) but the myelin layer is around 200 times thicker than the cell membrane.
Signal propagation along the nerve can be modeled with the following circuit: Experimental
measurements show that the amplitude of the voltage at the next node remains at 99.3% of its original
value. The start of an impulse is the flow of Na + ions into the axon, changing the potential across the
membrane from -70mV to +40mV. Then the potassium ions flow out, dropping the potential below -
70mV, followed by a return to the resting state. The ions inside and outside the cell wall move along the
wall from node to node, triggering the process there. This constitutes an electric current and we can
calculate a resistance for the process using the resistivity of the axoplasm filling the cell.
In our simplified treatment, we will ignore the effect of the ion channels and the fact that the cell is
jammed full of structures which undoubtedly affect the flow of charges inside the cell.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE...

Getting a feel for the numbers.
For a nerve cell, the thickness of the cell membrane is about 7 nm and the potential difference
between the outer surface and inner surface is around +70 mV (outer - inner)in the resting
state.
Electric field: Calculate the electric field in the membrane, both magnitude and direction.
(1) E =
Resistance of membrane: The membrane resistance can be calculated using R
m
=
m
d/A, with
m

=3.6x10 7 m for lipid membrane and d=thickness. If we use a typical cell radius of 0.05mm
and assume it to be cylindrical with an exposed length of 1m, calculate the surface area (not
including the ends)
(2) Area =
Calculate the resistance of the axon wall at the node:
(3) R
n
=
This is an overestimate because it ignores the ion channels.
Capacitance and resistance of membrane: With a potential difference across an insulating lipid
layer, the neuron cell wall is also acting as a capacitor. The dielectric constant for lipids is about
9. Using the dimensions and electrical properties given, calculate the resistance and capacitance
of the cell wall as a function of length between the nodes.

(4) Calculations
Axoplasm resistance:
R
A
/L =
unmyelinated:
C
u
/L = R
wu
L =
myelinated:
C
m
/L = R
wm
L =
(5) Notice how the internal resistance for a 10m length compares with the resistance of the
membrane for the same length! So is more charge going to flow out through the membrane or
along the axon?