Abstract
THE purpose of this communication is to direct attention to a method that permits very small alterations in the average threshold of nerve fibres in a mixed nerve bundle to be followed over a rapid time course. The method depends on the steepness of the slope of the central region of the response amplitude/stimulus strength curve. From Fig. 1 it can be seen that in the case of a sub-maximal compound action potential, with an amplitude of 30–70 per cent maximal, an alteration in stimulus strength (or mean threshold) of only 1 per cent will result in an alteration of up to 10 per cent in response amplitude, due to the large proportion of nerve fibres the thresholds of which fall within this 1 per cent range.
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EVANS, M. Measuring Small Rapid Changes in Nerve Threshold during Exposure to Snake Venom. Nature 200, 368 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/200368a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/200368a0
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