Unique features of action potential initiation in cortical neurons

Björn Naundorf, Fred Wolf () and Maxim Volgushev
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Björn Naundorf: Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
Fred Wolf: Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
Maxim Volgushev: Ruhr-University Bochum

Nature, 2006, vol. 440, issue 7087, 1060-1063

Abstract: Quick thinking Neurons in the brain communicate via electric pulses or action potentials of a fraction of a volt, that last about a thousandth of a second. In 1952, Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley received a share in the Nobel prize for their theory of action potential generation, developed from work on the squid giant axon. Ever since it has been tacitly assumed that nerve impulses are generated in much the same way in all animals from slugs to humans. Now a study of the cortical neurons of higher animals suggests that this assumption may need to be revised. Key features of cortical action potential initiation depart from predictions of the Hodgkin–Huxley theory, as the neurons are much more tailored for fast information processing than was assumed.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1038/nature04610

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