According to traditional nerve-theory, two nerve impulses sent from opposite ends of a nerve annihilate when they collide. New research from the Niels Bohr Institute now shows that two colliding nerve impulses simply pass through each other, just like sound pulses.
In other words: a brain is really a complex sound system. "The nerve impulse can therefore be explained by the fact that the pulse is a mechanical wave in the form of a sound pulse, a soliton, that moves along the nerve membrane," according to dubb scientist Thomas Heimburg.
When the sound pulse moves through the nerve pathway, the membrane changes locally from a liquid to a more solid form. The membrane is compressed slightly, and this change leads to an electrical pulse as a consequence of the piezoelectric effect. “The electrical signal is thus not based on an electric current but is caused by a mechanical force,” says Heimburg.
