Abstract
IT has recently been shown1,2,3 by action potential records from the giant fibres that these form two systems; the two laterals are interconnected and act in unison independently of the median. Since the discharge from either fibre system may produce the sudden end-to-end shortening of the worm, the question arises why the nerve pathway is double. Stough's answer4,5 that the median giant will only conduct backwards and the laterals forwards is incorrect, for their action potentials can be shown normally to run both ways1,3.
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References
Bullock, T. H., J. Neurophysiol., 8, 55 (1945).
Rushton, W. A. H., Proc. Roy. Soc., B, 132, 423 (1945).
Rushton, W. A. H., Proc. Roy. Soc., in the press.
Stough, H. B., J. Comp. Neurol., 40, 409 (1926).
Stough, H. B., J. Comp. Neurol., 50, 217 (1930).
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RUSHTON, W. Motor Response from Giant Fibres in the Earthworm. Nature 156, 109–110 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/156109b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/156109b0
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