Adaptive activity of neural structures – a thermodynamic approach

The underlying mechanisms of behavioral functions at different levels of organization of the nervous system are not yet fully understood. No satisfactory answers have been supplied to the question of how do brain subsystems operate to ensure the adaptive behavior of the organism. In our view the answer to these complex questions lies in the physical chemistry of colloidal systems and moving boundaries. The latter coordinate metabolic, transport, and signal functions, while glial cells are active modulatory elements in signal transmission. This paper shows both theoretically and experimentally that optimal functioning of the brain at all its levels is determined by and based on the laws of thermodynamics of colloidal–electrolyte systems.