Recent studies have revealed the complex structure of nerve signals in axons. Besides the electrical signal, mechanical and thermal effects are also detected in many experimental studies. In this paper, the mathematical models of heat generation are analysed within the framework of a general model derived earlier by the authors. The main mechanisms of heat generation are seemingly Joule heating and endo- and exothermic reactions. The concept of internal variables permits to model the heat relaxation typical to these reactions. The general energy balance of the whole signal is analysed based on physical mechanisms responsible for emerging the components of a signal which constitutes a wave ensemble. The novelty of this study is in describing the energy for all the components of the wave ensemble. Some open questions are listed for further studies.

中文翻译：

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神经脉冲传播的物理背景：热和能量

最近的研究揭示了轴突中神经信号的复杂结构。除了电信号，在许多实验研究中还检测到机械和热效应。在本文中，发热的数学模型是在作者之前推导出的一般模型的框架内进行分析的。发热的主要机制似乎是焦耳加热以及吸热和放热反应。内部变量的概念允许对这些反应的典型热弛豫进行建模。基于负责出现构成波系的信号分量的物理机制来分析整个信号的一般能量平衡。这项研究的新颖之处在于描述了波系所有组成部分的能量。列出了一些未解决的问题以供进一步研究。