Abstract
Spike trains in group A nerve fibers were studied in anesthetized cats in response to stimulation of the hind-limb nerves by random (Poisson) and regular sequences of stimuli. In response to above-threshold stimulation spike trains in the nerve fibers were shown to differ from the stimulating trains purely in the absence of intervals less than 1–1.5 msec in duration, as a result of the presence of a refractory period. With near-threshold stimulation with an average frequency of over 10 per second, spike trains differed significantly from the stimulating trains, as reflected in histograms of interspike intervals, the shape of the intensity function, and the magnitude of the coefficient of correlation for successive intervals. It is postulated that changes in the structure of the spike trains conveyed by a nerve fiber are attributable to the presence of after-activity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Yu. I. Arshavskii, M. B. Berkenblit, and B. I. Khodorov, "Functional properties of the nerve cell and its parts," in: General and Special Physiology of the Nervous System [in Russian], Nauka, Leningrad (1968).
D. S. Vorontsov, "On functional parabiosis," Nauchnye Izvestiya Smolensk. Univ.,3, (1926).
P. I. Gulyaev, "Electrophysiology of the nerve trunk," in: Current Problems in Electrophysiological Investigations of the Nervous System [in Russian], Meditsina, Moscow (1964), pp. 5–30.
D. Cox and P. Lewis, The Statistical Analysis of Series of Events, Halsted (1966).
P. G. Kostyuk, M. A. Kulikov, B. Ya. Pyatigorskii, and D. A. Vasilenko, "Analysis of spontaneous unit activity of the cat pyramidal tract," Neirofiziologiya,4, 3 (1972).
L. Alaoglu and N. M. Smith, "Statistical theory of a scaling circuit," Phys. Rev.,53, 832 (1938).
E. A. Blair and G. Erlanger, "Responses of axons to brief shocks," Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. (New York),29, 926 (1932).
G. Erlanger and H. S. Gasser, Electrical Signs of Nervous Activity, Philadelphia (1937).
H. S. Gasser, "Axons as samples of nervous tissue," J. Neurophysiol.,2, 361 (1939).
M. Hoopen and A. A. Verveen, "Nerve model experiments on fluctuation in excitability," Prog. Brain Res.,2, 8 (1963).
C. Pecher, "La fluctuation d'excitabilite de la fibre nerveuse," Arch. Int. Physiol., 49, 128 (1939).
D. H. Perkel, G. L. Gerstein, and G. P. Moore, "Neuronal spike trains and stochastic point processes. II. Simultaneous spike trains," Biophys. J.,7, 419 (1967).
A. A. Verveen and H. E. Derksen, "Fluctuations in membrane potential of axons and the problem of coding," Kybernetik,2, 152 (1965).
Additional information
A. A. Bogomolets Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 91–98, January–February, 1976.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pyatigorskii, B.Y., Pivnutel', R.V. Transmission of spike trains by nerve fibers after near-threshold stimulation. Neurophysiology 8, 81–87 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065243
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065243