The molecular mechanisms underlying the message‐carrying ability of nerves are not well understood. However, the experimental opportunities offered by the large‐diameter “giant” nerve fibers of squid (see cover photo) and certain marine worms (see figure 1) have led to the discovery of significant facts about the origin of the nerve impulse.
REFERENCES
1.
A. L. Hodgkin, The Conduction of the Nervous Impulse, Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Ill. (1964);
B. Katz, Nerve, Muscle and Synapse, McGraw‐Hill, New York (1966);
K. S. Cole, Membranes, Ions and Impulses, California U.P., Berkeley (1968);
Biophysics and Physiology of Excitable Membranes (W. J. Adelman Jr, ed.) Van Nostrand, New York (1971).
2.
3.
R. FitzHugh, in Biological Engineering (H. P. Schwan, ed.), McGraw‐Hill, New York, (1969), page 1.
4.
S.
McLaughlin
, M.
Eisenberg
, Ann. Rev. Biophys. Bioeng.
4
, 335
(1975
).5.
G.
Ehrenstein
, H.
Lecar
, R.
Nossal
, J. Gen. Physiol.
55
, 119
(1970
);M.
Eisenberg
, J. E.
Hall
, C. A.
Mead
, J. Membrane Biol.
14
, 143
(1973
);6.
F.
Conti
, L. J.
DeFelice
, E.
Wanke
, J. Physiol.
248
, 45
(1975
).7.
8.
9.
10.
R.
Henderson
, J. M.
Ritchie
, G. R.
Strichartz
, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. US
71
, 3936
(1974
).11.
12.
This content is only available via PDF.
© 1976 American Institute of Physics.
1976
American Institute of Physics
You do not currently have access to this content.
