Abstract
IN a recent communication1, Hertz has postulated an impulse transmission system in which “potassium ions, which have been lost from one nerve cell during its activity, are transported through neuroglia cells to the outer surface of another nerve cell, which is then depolarized and stimulated; that is, a neuronal–neuroglial–neuronal impulse system”. For such a system to operate, the neuroglia cells should bear an appropriate topographical relationship to the nerve cells and should have a capacity for active ion transport; for the pathways to be selective there should be no significant diffusion of potassium ions between cells. Hertz has given good supporting evidence for the second premise, the capacity of glia cells for active ion transport; but the first and third require examination.
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WENDELL-SMITH, C., BLUNT, M. Possible Role of Neuroglia. Nature 208, 600–601 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/208600a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/208600a0
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