MODELING THE HODGKIN-HUXLEY NEURON TO DETERMINE NEURONAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION EFFICIENCY AND OXYGEN CONSUMPTION VALUES

Abstract

Understanding neuronal structure and function is essential to studying the human brain. The goal of this project was to create a model of human brain neurons that accurately reflects neuronal function, energy consumption, and oxygen consumption. Extensive work has been performed on the Hodgkin-Huxley model of neurons to accurately model neuronal firing. This study focuses on the creation of a model of the Hodgkin-Huxley neuron in MATLAB with the assistance of the DynaSim toolbox. This model was used to compute values and using another model the energy efficiency of the neuron was calculated and related to oxygen consumption, which then corresponds to Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) imaging in fMRI. The results of this study provide detailed visual and technical information about how the brain neurons function, which is crucial to the further development in brain imaging techniques and to further our understanding of why and how our complex brains function.