Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

1997

Abstract

The application of systems and control theory to membrane physiology is presented here. Modeling efforts have focused on describing those physiologically realistic mechanisms which govern the regulation of membrane permeability in nerve. The motivation behind identifying such mechanisms lies in understanding the morphology of neural activity on a meaningful and analytically tractable level. The suggested merit of integrating control theory into the analysis lies in providing how a membrane effectively adapts to changes in permeability and through what governing mechanisms. The value in producing such an understanding lies in mirroring biological reality in a more formal manner than could be achieved solely through experimental means. A bang-bang control policy describing the permeability correction mechanisms is developed using Liapunov's Stability Criteria. Both changes in membrane potential and kinetic rates are required to implement the policy. The policy describes the inherent mechanisms of the membrane which act to drive its permeability from unstable firing to the resting potential state. It is shown that these permeability changes in state are governed by a switching function that depends on the membrane potential and a dominant controlling parameter. The control policy is discussed in the context of solutions of the Hodgkin-Huxley Equations of Ionic Hypothesis.

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