Yet even more proposed tests of the soliton-AP model: Still no compelling evidence for it after twenty years of a metaphysical approach.

It has been twenty years since the soliton-action potential (AP) model was introduced, so an evaluation of this model and its status is presented. It will be noted that there is, still, no compelling evidence for this model’s assumption that a major lipid phase transition occurs during APs. Concerning the views of anaesthetic actions, changes in capacitance, alterations in membrane width and optical features during AP which the soliton-AP model presents, it is noted that alternative views account for these features in a manner consistent with the modern electrophysiological AP model. It is also noted that the soliton-AP model’s proposed means to account for the electrical features of the AP has yet to be shown to operate. Comments will be presented on the recent proposals that an AP has a wavelength, and for a new mechanical synapse hypothesis. It will be suggested that claims for the soliton-AP model to be adiabatic, and for AP passage upon collision, may imply that this model violates the law of conservation of energy. And the claim that APs do not generate net heat will be questioned and refuted by examination of published data. Thus twenty years after its introduction, no clear support is found for the soliton-AP model. Of concern is the apparent abandonment of the scientific method and its standards of evidence by some advocates of the soliton-AP model, as seen in the discounting of evidence judged to be inconsistent with their model. Rather a metaphysical view is offered in which the soliton-AP model is argued to be valid based merely on its alleged association with certain principles and laws. It is suggested that the scientific method’s approach of judging a model against data is the appropriate standard of evidence and should be used to evaluate the soliton-AP model.