Abstract
A short description will be given of the voltage clamp experiments on the myelinated nerve fibre. This technique allows measurements of the membrane currents associated to step changes of the membrane potential. An analysis of the membrane currents, with the fibre in solutions of various compositions, shows that the ionic currents during step polarizations are passive currents; i.e. the ions move as charged particles in free diffusion in an electric field. The ionic currents can therefore be described by the membrane permeability and the ionic concentrations both sides the membrane. The sodium permeability and the potassium permeability of the membrane depend on membrane potential and on time. These specific permeability changes have been described in a quantitative form. A solution of the equations describing the voltage clamp currents predicts an action potential very similar to the action potential recorded from the myelinated nerve fibre. The analysis follows the main lines of the squid fibre voltage clamp analysis made by Hodgkin and Huxley. A reference list is given at the end of this communication covering the major bulk of the original papers on the problem.
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References
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Frankenhaeuser, B. (1969). Ionic Currents in the Myelinated Nerve Fibre. In: Passow, H., Stämpfli, R. (eds) Laboratory Techniques in Membrane Biophysics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-87259-4_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-87259-4_14
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