Analysis of the optimal channel density of the squid giant axon using a reparameterized Hodgkin-Huxley model.

A reparameterized Hodgkin-Huxley-type model is developed that improves the 1952 model's fit to the biological action potential. In addition to altering Na(+) inactivation and K(+) activation kinetics, a voltage-dependent gating-current mechanism has been added to the model. The resulting improved model fits the experimental trace nearly exactly over the rising phase, and it has a propagation velocity that is within 3% of the experimentally measured value of 21.