A quantitative description of membrane current and its application to conduction and excitation in nerve
Drawing on voltage-clamp measurements of ionic currents in the squid giant axon, Hodgkin and Huxley developed a quantitative mathematical model describing membrane current as the sum of separate sodium, potassium, and leak conductances that vary with voltage and time. Using a system of nonlinear differential equations with voltage-dependent gating variables, they reproduced the form, amplitude, and conduction velocity of the action potential and other excitation phenomena. The model unified their experimental findings and became the foundational framework for quantitative electrophysiology.