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K. Kaufmann. 1989. BOOK 4: Action Potentials and Electrochemical Coupling in the Macroscopic Chiral Phospholipid Membrane. Caruaru, Brazil.

Abstract: Action potentials are accompanied by mechanical displacement and forces (Iwasa and Tasaki, 1980). The time dependence of the phenomenon can be explained by a coupling between the electrical polarization and the mechanical force. It is shown from symmetry arguments that the action potential is the reversible hydrodynamic excitation of a liquid-crystalline fluid consisting of macroscopically ordered chiral molecules. We Conclude that the electromechanical aspects of action potentials are a property of the lipid bilayer.