| Abstract: | The behavior of the antidromic spike and the origin of the axonal spike evoked by direct stimulation of the soma were studied with the aid of the Hodgkin-Hexley equation. It is suggested that the mechanisms responsible for electrical excitation of the axon are qualitatively and quantitatively similar to those described by Hodgkin and Huxley for the squid axon. The amplitude of the antidromic spike diminishes rapidly close to the soma. In the example studied, only subthreshod changes of membrane potential take place in the soma. During direct stimulation of the soma the site of primary origin of the axonal spike depends on the strength of the stimulating current. With an increase in its strength the site of primary generation of the spike moves closer to the soma.A. A. Bogomolets Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 422–427, July–August, 1975. |
