Feedback control of Hodgkin-Huxley nerve cell dynamics

Nerve cells communicate by generation and transmission of short electrical pulses (action potentials). A cascaded feedback control scheme consisting of an optimal controller (model predictive control, MPC) and a state feedback controller to control the time-courses of the biophysical state variables underlying action potential generation was developed and evaluated in simulations. The control scheme was shown to provide new means for action potential generation, suppression of oscillations and blockage of action potential transmission. These new theoretical developments could represent a starting point for the design of new closed-loop electrical stimulation systems for patients suffering from different nerve system dysfunctions.