The impedance of the excised giant axon from hindmost stellar nerve of Loligo pealii has been measured over the frequency range from 1 to 2500 kilocycles per second. The measurements have been made with the current flow perpendicular to the axis of the axon to permit a relatively simple analysis of the data. It has been found that the axon membrane has a polarization impedance with an average phase angle of 76° and an average capacity of 1.1µf./cm2 at 1 kilocycle. The direct current resistance of the membrane could not be measured, but was greater than 3 ohm cm.2 and the average internal specific resistance was four times that of sea water. There was no detectable change in the membrane impedance when the axon lost excitability, but some time later it decreased to zero.
Article|
July 20 1938
TRANSVERSE ELECTRIC IMPEDANCE OF THE SQUID GIANT AXON
Howard J. Curtis,
Howard J. Curtis
From the Department of Physiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, and The Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
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Kenneth S. Cole
Kenneth S. Cole
From the Department of Physiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, and The Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
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Howard J. Curtis
From the Department of Physiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, and The Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Kenneth S. Cole
From the Department of Physiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, and The Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Accepted:
February 10 1938
Online ISSN: 1540-7748
Print ISSN: 0022-1295
Copyright, 1938, by The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research
1938
J Gen Physiol (1938) 21 (6): 757–765.
Article history
Accepted:
February 10 1938
Citation
Howard J. Curtis, Kenneth S. Cole; TRANSVERSE ELECTRIC IMPEDANCE OF THE SQUID GIANT AXON . J Gen Physiol 20 July 1938; 21 (6): 757–765. doi: https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.21.6.757
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