scholarly journals Morphological aspects of the safety factor for action potential propagation at axon branch points in the crayfish

1980 ◽  
Vol 301 (1) ◽  
pp. 261-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean O. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Action Potential ◽  
Safety Factor ◽  
Branch Points ◽  
Action Potential Propagation ◽  
Morphological Aspects ◽  
Axon Branch

Temperature-sensitive conduction failure at axon branch points

1978 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Westerfield ◽  
R. W. Joyner ◽  
J. W. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Action Potential ◽  
High Temperatures ◽  
Computer Simulations ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Critical Ratio ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Branch Points ◽  
Action Potential Propagation ◽  
Conduction Failure ◽  
Axon Branch

1. The propagation of action potentials through the branching regions of squid axons was examined experimentally and with computer simulations over a temperature range of 5-25 degrees C. 2. Above a critical ratio of postbranch to prebranch diameters, propagation of an action potential failed. The value of this critical ratio is very sensitive to temperature and is smaller at high temperatures. The experimentally measured Q10 of the critical ratio is 0.37 +/- 0.04. 3. Evaluation of a number of parameters of action-potential propagation showed that this effect is closely related to the change in the width of the action potential with temperature (Q10 = 0.29 +/- 0.01).

scholarly journals Action Potential Reflection and Failure at Axon Branch Points Cause Stepwise Changes in EPSPs in a Neuron Essential for Learning

2000 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 1693-1700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen A. Baccus ◽  
Brian D. Burrell ◽  
Christie L. Sahley ◽  
Kenneth J. Muller
Keyword(s):  
Action Potential ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Conduction Block ◽  
Neuronal Morphology ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Reverse Direction ◽  
Mammalian Brain ◽  
Branch Points ◽  
Individual Branch ◽  
Axon Branch

In leech mechanosensory neurons, action potentials reverse direction, or reflect, at central branch points. This process enhances synaptic transmission from individual axon branches by rapidly activating synapses twice, thereby producing facilitation. At the same branch points action potentials may fail to propagate, which can reduce transmission. It is now shown that presynaptic action potential reflection and failure under physiological conditions influence transmission to the same postsynaptic neuron, the S cell. The S cell is an interneuron essential for a form of nonassociative learning, sensitization of the whole body shortening reflex. The P to S synapse has components that appear monosynaptic (termed “direct”) and polysynaptic, both with glutamatergic pharmacology. Reflection at P cell branch points on average doubled transmission to the S cell, whereas action potential failure, or conduction block, at the same branch points decreased it by one-half. Each of two different branch points affected transmission, indicating that the P to S connection is spatially distributed around these branch points. This was confirmed by examining the locations of individual contacts made by the P cell with the S cell and its electrically coupled partner C cells. These results show that presynaptic neuronal morphology produces a range of transmission states at a set of synapses onto a neuron necessary for a form of learning. Reflection and conduction block are activity-dependent and are basic properties of action potential propagation that have been seen in other systems, including axons and dendrites in the mammalian brain. Individual branch points and the distribution of synapses around those branch points can substantially influence neuronal transmission and plasticity.

scholarly journals Sodium Channel β2 Subunits Prevent Action Potential Propagation Failures at Axonal Branch Points

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (39) ◽  
pp. 9519-9533 ◽  
Author(s):  
In Ha Cho ◽  
Lauren C. Panzera ◽  
Morven Chin ◽  
Michael B. Hoppa
Keyword(s):  
Action Potential ◽  
Sodium Channel ◽  
Branch Points ◽  
Action Potential Propagation

Presynaptic Afferent Inhibition of Lobster Olfactory Receptor Cells: Reduced Action-Potential Propagation Into Axon Terminals

1998 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 1011-1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Wachowiak ◽  
Lawrence B. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Action Potential ◽  
Olfactory Receptor ◽  
Receptor Cell ◽  
Action Potential Propagation ◽  
Cell Axon ◽  
Axon Terminals ◽  
Olfactory Receptor Cells ◽  
Receptor Cells ◽  
Afferent Inhibition ◽  
Reduced Action

Wachowiak, Matt and Lawrence B. Cohen. Presynaptic afferent inhibition of lobster olfactory receptor cells: reduced action-potential propagation into axon terminals. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 1011–1015, 1998. Action-potential propagation into the axon terminals of olfactory receptor cells was measured with the use of voltage-sensitive dye imaging in the isolated spiny lobster brain. Conditioning shocks to the olfactory nerve, known to cause long-lasting suppression of olfactory lobe neurons, allowed the selective imaging of activity in receptor cell axon terminals. In normal saline the optical signal from axon terminals evoked by a test stimulus was brief (40 ms) and small in amplitude. In the presence of low-Ca2+/high-Mg2+ saline designed to reduce synaptic transmission, the test response was unchanged in time course but increased significantly in amplitude (57 ± 16%, means ± SE). This increase suggests that propagation into receptor cell axon terminals is normally suppressed after a conditioning shock; this suppression is presumably synaptically mediated. Thus our results show that presynaptic inhibition occurs at the first synapse in the olfactory pathway and that the inhibition is mediated, at least in part, via suppression of action-potential propagation into the presynaptic terminal.

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