Thermodynamical aspects and molecular mechanisms of nerve activity

This paper proposes a nonequilibrium thermodynamical approach for the energetics of nerve functioning. The energy needs for resting ionic pumping are computed and compared with experimental data on nerve metabolism. A detailed analysis of the various contributions to energetical changes during the nerve impulse clearly shows that without recourse to conformational changes in membrane proteins the initial heat of activity cannot be properly accounted for. By considering the transitions of membrane ionophores, a faithful quantitative explanation of the heat of activity is obtained.