In thermodynamics, neurochemical thermodynamics is the study of the thermodynamical aspects, in particular energy, entropy, free energy, and chemical potential, work, of chemical operation of the nervous system.
History
The subject the application of thermodynamics to nervous system operation itself is still rather in development, having begun loosely in the 1960s, following the development of neurochemistry as a subject in the 1950s. One of the first publications was Canadian materials science engineer Jack Kirkaldy’s 1965 article “Thermodynamics of the Human Brain”. [1] In 2007 book Money: Virtual Energy - Economy through the Prism of Thermodynamics, Russian bioelectrochemist Octavian Ksenzhek outlined a pleasure center based (endorphins view) of economics in which humans act as active agents coupling energy flows in economy. [2]
References
1. Kirkaldy, Jack S. (1965). "Thermodynamics of the Human Brain" (PDF), Biophys J. Nov. 5(6): 981-986.
2. Ksenzhek, Octavian S. (2007). Money: Virtual Energy - Economy through the Prism of Thermodynamics, (pgs. 162, 170). Universal Publishers.
Further reading
● Erdi, P. (1983). “Hierarchical Thermodynamic Approach to the Brain.” International Journal of Neuroscience, Volume 20, Issue 3 & 4, Sep., pgs. 193 – 216.
● Schoffeniels, Ernest and Mărgineanu, D.G. (1991). Molecular Basis and Thermodynamics of Bioelectrogenesis (ch. 5: The Puzzle of Nerve Impulse Thermodynamics, pgs. 125-42). Springer.
● Kaila, Kai, and Ransom, Bruce R. (1998). pH and Brain Function, (ch. 5: “Cerebral Energy Metabolism and pH”, pgs. 67-92; ch. 10: “Thermodynamics and Physiology of Cellular pH Regulation”, pgs. 173-194). Wiley-IEEE.
