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‘On’- and ‘Off’- Responses of the Olfactory Epithelium
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  • Published: 04 July 1959

‘On’- and ‘Off’- Responses of the Olfactory Epithelium

  • S. F. TAKAGI1 &
  • T. SHIBUYA1 

Nature volume 184, page 60 (1959)Cite this article

  • 110 Accesses

  • 16 Citations

  • Metrics details

Abstract

SLOW-action potentials have been found in various sensory receptors in response to adequate stimuli. They were first found in the olfactory epithelium of a dog by Hosoya and Yoshida1. Recently, Ottoson2 studied them extensively in the olfactory epithelium of a frog. He showed that the action potential is of a triangular shape, having a steeply rising limb, a round summit and a gradually falling limb in an exponential curve. When the duration of the olfactory stimulus is long, a plateau appears in the middle of the falling limb and continues as long as the stimulation. It is succeeded by an exponentially falling limb at the cessation of stimulation.

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  2. Ottoson, D., Acta Physiol. Scand., 35, Supp., 122 (1956).

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  3. Granit, R., “Sensory Mechanisms of the Retina” (Oxford University Press, London, 1947).

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  4. Hartline, H. K., Amer. J. Physiol., 121, 400 (1938).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Gunma University, Maebashi, Japan

    S. F. TAKAGI & T. SHIBUYA

Authors
  1. S. F. TAKAGI
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  2. T. SHIBUYA
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Cite this article

TAKAGI, S., SHIBUYA, T. ‘On’- and ‘Off’- Responses of the Olfactory Epithelium. Nature 184, 60 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/184060a0

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  • Issue Date: 04 July 1959

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/184060a0

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