Abstract
ACCORDING to Hodgkin and Katz1, in the complete absence of sodium ions from the surrounding medium, the action potential of the giant axon of the squid is diminished, whereas its resting potential is not changed at all. This observation of the effect of sodium ions on the electrical activity of nerve fibre is one of the bases of the sodium theory of nerve activity of the Cambridge school. So the metabolic effect of sodium-free medium on brain slices has been studied2, with special emphasis on its relation to the functioning of nerve cells in general, because the metabolic activity of nerve fibres is difficult to measure.
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References
Hodgkin, A. L., and Katz, B., J. Physiol., 108, 37 (1949).
Gore, M. B. R., and McIlwain, H., J. Physiol., 117, 471 (1952). Tsukada, Y., and Takagaki, G., Nature, 175, 725 (1955).
Takagaki, G., Hirano, S. and Tsukada, Y., Arch. Biochem. Biophys., [68, 196 (1957)].
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TAKAGAKI, G., TSUKADA, Y. Sodium Ions and Tissue Metabolism: Some Metabolic Peculiarities of Brain Tissue. Nature 180, 707–708 (1957). https://doi.org/10.1038/180707a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/180707a0
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