| Abstract: | The ionic currents of the snail giant neurons were investigated by the voltage clamp method. The effect of sodium-free solutions on the inward and outward currents was studied. It is shown that the current entering the cells is created mainly by sodium ions. When a preparation is immersed into a solution not containing sodium ions, most neurons (tentatively neurons of type "a") "lose" the inward currents. In other neurons (tentatively of type "b") this process lasts 40 min and more. A number of peculiarities of type "b" neurons were noted. The response of the excitable membrane to conditioning polarization was also investigated. The data obtained permit the conclusion that 85–90% of the sodium-transfer system is activated in the case of a voltage clamp from the level of the resting potential.A. A. Bogomolets Institute of Physiology, Kiev. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 314–320, May–June, 1970. |
