Energetic considerations on the dynamics of Hodgkin-Huxley neurons

Neuron models are frequently used to represent the dynamics of real neurons but hardly ever to evaluate the electrochemical energy required to maintain that dynamics. This paper discusses the interpretation of a Hodgkin-Huxley circuit as an energy model for real biological neurons and studies the metabolic energy consumption for the generation of action potentials and the cost of signalling when neurons are coupled by electrical synapses.