Galvani's Spark: The Story of the Nerve ImpulseGalvani's Spark chronicles the gradual understanding of the nerve impulse which is the basis of all thoughts, sensations and actions. The story begins with Luigi Galvani's chance observation of a spark from a friction machine causing a frog's leg to twitch from across the room. The accurate recording and the understanding of the properties of the nerve fiber membrane that makes the impulse possible became the objectives of neuroscientists for over 200 years.The author, Alan J. McComas finely interweaves the stories, the challenges, and the controversies of the most prominent figures in neuroscience, from the histological descriptions of nerve cells by Cajal to the discovery of a three-dimensional structure of ion channels in cell membranes by MacKinnon. Along the way he details the first recordings of the impulse with a cathode ray oscilloscope by Gasser and Erlanger, Adrian's discovery that stimulus intensity is coded by the frequency of nerve impulses, and Hodgkin and Huxley's brilliant voltage clamp experiments, amongst many others. The recognition by Galvani that muscles and nerves have an electrical component triggered the field of neurophysiology and in turn has produced some of the greatest discoveries in neuroscience. 16 investigators of the nerve impulse went on to win or share Nobel prizes and this book not only emphasizes their work but also traces their brilliant careers. For anyone interested in the nervous system and the history of neuroscience, Galvani's Spark: The Story of the Nerve Impulse is essential reading. |
Contents
1 Introduction | 3 |
2 The Spark | 11 |
3 Catching Up | 41 |
4 The Anatomists Eye | 51 |
The Engineer | 63 |
6 The Cathode Ray Oscilloscope | 75 |
7 The Code | 97 |
8 Excitation and Inhibition | 115 |
15 The Voltage Clamp | 211 |
16 Aftermath | 223 |
The New Physiology | 235 |
18 More Triumphs with Microelectrodes | 253 |
19 The Single Ion Channel | 269 |
20 Myotonic Goats and Migraines | 281 |
21 The Swinging Gate | 291 |
22 Departures | 301 |
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Common terms and phrases
able acetylcholine action current action potential Adrian Alan Hodgkin amplifier Andrew Huxley Bernard Katz Bishop brain Cajal Cambridge capillary electrometer cathode ray chemical Cole Cole’s cortex Courtesy of John Dale depolarization Eccles electrical electrodes end-plate potential Erlanger’s excitation experiments Feldberg fiber membrane fibres Figure frog Galvani galvanometer Gasser and Erlanger Helmholtz Hodgkin and Huxley Huxley’s Journal of Physiology Katz Keith Lucas Kuffler laboratory later lecture Lorente de Nó MacKinnon Matteucci membrane potential microelectrode microscope motoneurons motor nerve muscle contraction muscle fibers myelin nature nerve cells nerve endings nerve fibers nerve impulse nervous system neuromuscular junction neurons neurophysiology Nobel Prize oscilloscope Oxford paper peripheral nerve permeability photograph potassium channel potassium ions Professor receptor recording response Rockefeller Institute Royal Society sciatic nerve scientists sensory Sherrington single sodium channel spinal cord squid axon squid giant axon stimulation synaptic tion tissue University College London voltage clamp