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Here, we show that ensembles of voltage-gated ion channels can undergo bioelectrical order\u2013disorder phase transitions driven by feedback between channel currents and local membrane voltage. When channels open, they carry ion-selective current that redistributes ions near the membrane and perturbs the transmembrane potential, thereby biasing the gating of nearby channels. This emergent nonequilibrium coupling generates a bona fide phase transition in ion channel ensembles. Finite-size analyses of the open-channel fraction, its fluctuations, and the distribution of collective channel states yield a voltage\u2013temperature phase diagram with a first-order line separating collectively open and closed states and terminating at a critical point. The critical temperature is governed by a dimensionless conductance ratio set by ion transport, channel density, and confinement geometry. Applying this framework to measurements from the squid giant axon, the axon initial segment, and the nodes of Ranvier suggests that collective activation may be favored by high sodium-channel densities in large-diameter nerves, whereas the lower densities typical of potassium channels place them in an independent-gating regime.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.07.07.734602","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,12]],"date-time":"2026-07-12T16:10:31Z","timestamp":1783872631000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Bioelectrical phase transitions"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-2226-8090","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joshua B.","family":"Fernandes","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA"},{"name":"Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3623-512X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hyeongjoo","family":"Row","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4349-6600","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Karthik","family":"Shekhar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA"},{"name":"Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kranthi K.","family":"Mandadapu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA"},{"name":"Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026071504401262000_2026.07.07.734602v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"500","DOI":"10.1113\/jphysiol.1952.sp004764","volume":"117","year":"1952","journal-title":"The Journal of physiology"},{"key":"2026071504401262000_2026.07.07.734602v1.2","unstructured":"B. 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