Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 9, 2026

Contribution of the Na+/K+ Pump to Rhythmic Bursting, Explored with Modeling and Dynamic Clamp Analyses
Published on: May 9, 2021
Neurophysiology: Hodgkin and Huxley model--still standing?
David A McCormick1, Yousheng Shu, Yuguo Yu
1Department of Neurobiology, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, USA. david.mccormick@yale.edu
Abstract:
Action potentials in cortical neurons show a variable threshold and a sudden rise in membrane potential at initiation. Naundorf et al. fail to explain these features using single- or double-compartment Hodgkin-Huxley-style models, suggesting instead that they could arise from cooperative opening of Na+ channels, although there is no direct biological evidence to support this. Here we show that these so-called unique features are to be expected from Hodgkin-Huxley models if the spatial geometry and spike initiation properties of cortical neurons are taken into account--it is therefore unnecessary to invoke exotic channel-gating properties as an explanation.
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