A Computational Study of the Fitzhugh-Nagumo Action Potential System

The most celebrated example of mathematical modeling is the Hodgkin-Huxley model of nerve physiology. Their experiments were carried out on a giant axon of a squid, which was large enough for the implantation of electrodes. The Hodgkin-Huxley mathematical model for nerve cell action potential is a system of four coupled ordinary differential equations. The Fitzhugh-Nagumo two-variable action potential system behaves qualitatively like the Hodgkin-Huxley space-clamped system. Being simpler by two variables, action potentials and other properties of the Hodgkin-Huxley model may be visualized as phase-plane plots. We used MATLAB to study the numerical solutions as well as the qualitative properties of the model.