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AN ELECTRICAL HYPOTHESIS OF CENTRAL INHIBITION

Nature volume 159, pages 760–764 (1947)Cite this article

Abstract

IN electrical hypothesis of synaptic transmission has recently been proposed1,2 which was based upon generally accepted data pertaining to the structural features of the synapse and to the electrical and excitatory properties of nerve and muscle. This hypothesis offered the first precise explanation of the temporal course of the excitatory events occurring during synaptic transmission. However, it gave no explanation of inhibition, which is so fundamental a counterpart of excitation in the functioning of the central nervous system. The hypothesis here formulated as an extension of the excitatory hypothesis rectifies that deficiency, and is likewise able to offer the first precise explanation of the temporal course of inhibition in terms of generally accepted structural and functional properties of neurones and of the synaptic contacts between them.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow. On leave of absence from the Department of Physiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physiology Department, University of Otago, New Zealand

    C. McC. BROOKS &  J. C. ECCLES

  2. F.R.S, Physiology Department, University of Otago, New Zealand

    C. McC. BROOKS &  J. C. ECCLES

Authors
  1. C. McC. BROOKS
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  2. J. C. ECCLES
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BROOKS, C., ECCLES, J. AN ELECTRICAL HYPOTHESIS OF CENTRAL INHIBITION. Nature 159, 760–764 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/159760a0

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