This news absolutely blows my mind. It takes years of “proven” information and blows it out of the water. It will be interesting to see if this theory becomes new medical fact.

From the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation):

The common view that nerves transmit impulses through electricity is wrong and they really transmit sound, according to a team of Danish scientists.

According to the traditional explanation of molecular biology, an electrical pulse is sent from one end of the nerve to the other with the help of electrically charged salts that pass through ion channels and a membrane that sheathes the nerves. That membrane is made of lipids and proteins.

Heimburg and Jackson theorize that sound propagation is a much more likely explanation. Although sound waves usually weaken as they spread out, a medium with the right physical properties could create a special kind of sound pulse or “soliton” that can propagate without spreading or losing strength.

This is really big news on many fronts if all is true. Only time will tell. Full story is here.

Thanks to a tip from Slickdome, here is their entire paper which the results were base upon (PDF)

Filed under: Health News