PHYSIOEX 3.

0 EXERCISE 18B: NEUROPHYSIOLOGY OF NERVE IMPULSES

Objectives
1. To define the following: irritability, conductivity, resting membrane potential,
polarized, sodium-potassium pump, threshold stimulus, depolarization, action
potential, repolarization, hyperpolarization, absolute refractory period, relative
refractory period, nerve impulse, synaptic cleft, compound action potential,
conduction velocity.
2. To list at least four different stimuli capable of generating an action potential.
3. To list at least two agents capable of inhibiting an action potential.
4. To describe the relationship between nerve size and conduction velocity.
5. To describe the relationship between nerve myelination and conduction
velocity.
________________________________________________________________
Neurons have two major physiologic properties: irritability, or the ability to
respond to stimuli and convert them into nerve impulses, and conductivity, the
ability to transmit an impulse (in this case, to take the neural impulse and pass it
along the cell membrane.) In the resting neuron (i.e. a neuron that does not have
any neural impulses), the exterior of the cell membrane is positively charged and
the interior of the neuron is negatively charged. This difference in electrical
charge across the plasma membrane is referred to as the resting membrane
potential and the membrane is said to be polarized. The sodium-potassium
pump in the membrane maintains the difference in electrical charge established
by diffusion of ions. This active transport mechanism moves 3 sodium ions out of
the cell while moving in 2 potassium ions. Therefore, the major cation outside of
the cell in the extracellular fluid is sodium, while the major cation inside of the cell
is potassium. The inner surface of the cell membrane is more negative than the
outer surface, mainly due to intracellular proteins, which, at body pH, tend to be
negatively charged.
The resting membrane potential can be measured with a voltmeter by putting a
recording electrode just inside of the cell membrane with a reference, or ground,
electrode outside of the membrane. In the giant squid axon, (where most early
neural research was conducted), or in the frog axon that will be used in this
exercise, the resting membrane potential is measured at 70 mv. (In humans,
the resting membrane potential typically measures between -40 mv to -90mv.)
When a neuron is activated by a stimulus of adequate intensity, known as a
threshold stimulus, the membrane at its trigger zone, typically the axon hillock,
briefly becomes more permeable to sodium ions (sodium gates in the cell
membrane open.) Sodium ions rush into the cell, increasing the number of
positive ions inside of the cell and changing the membrane polarity. The interior
surface of the membrane becomes less negative and the exterior surface
becomes less positive, a phenomenon called depolarization. When

depolarization reaches a certain called threshold, an action potential is initiated

and the polarity of the membrane reverses.
When the membrane depolarizes, the resting membrane potential of -70 mv
becomes less negative. When the membrane potential reaches 0 mv, indicating
there is no charge difference across the membrane, the sodium ion channels
close and potassium ion channels open. By the time the sodium ions channels
finally close, the membrane potential has reached +35 mv. The opening of the
potassium ion channels allows potassium ions to flow out of the cell down their
electrochemical gradient-- remember that like ions are repelled from each other.
The flow of potassium ions out of the cell causes the membrane potential to
move in a negative direction. This is referred to as repolarization. This
repolarization occurs within a millisecond of the initial sodium influx and
reestablishes the resting membrane potential. Actually, by the time the
potassium gates close, the cell membrane has undergone a hyperpolarization,
slipping to perhaps 75 mv. With the gates closed, the resting membrane
potential is quickly returned to the normal resting membrane potential.
When the sodium gates are open, the membrane is totally insensitive to
additional stimuli, regardless of the force of stimulus. The cell is in what is called
the absolute refractory period. During repolarization, the membrane may be
stimulated if a very strong stimulus is used. This period is called the relative
refractory period.
The action potential, once started, is a self-propagating phenomenon, spreading
rapidly along the neuron membrane. The action potential follows the all-or-none
law, in which the neuron membrane either depolarizes 100% or not at all. In
neurons, the action potential is also called a nerve impulse. When it reaches
the axon terminal, it triggers the release of neurotransmitters into a gap, known
as the synaptic cleft. Depending on the situation, the neurotransmitter will
either excite or inhibit the postsynaptic neuron.
In order to study nerve physiology, we will use a frog nerve and several
electronic instruments. The first instrument we will use is the electronic
stimulator. Nerves can be stimulated by chemicals, touch or electric shock.
The electronic stimulator administers an electric shock that is pure DC, and
allows duration, frequency, and voltage of the shock to be precisely controlled.
The stimulator has two output terminals; the positive terminal is red and the
negative terminal is black. Voltage leaves the stimulator via the red terminal,
passes through the item to be stimulated (in this case, the nerve), and returns to
the stimulator at the black terminal to complete the circuit.
The second instrument is the oscilloscope, an instrument that measures voltage
changes over a period of time. The face of the oscilloscope is similar to a blackand-white TV screen. The screen of the oscilloscope is the front of a tube with a
filament at the other end. The filament is heated and gives off a beam of

electrons. The beam passes to the front of the tube. Electronic circuitry allows
for the electron beam to be brought across the screen in pre-set time intervals.
When the electrons hit the phosphorescent material on the inside of the screen, a
spot on the screen will glow. When we apply a stimulus to a nerve, the
oscilloscope screen will display one of the following three results: no response, a
flat line, or a graph with a peak. A graph with a peak indicates that an action
potential has been generated.
While performing the following experiments, keep in mind that you are working
with a nerve, which consists of many neurons-- you are not just working with a
single neuron. The action potential you will see on the oscilloscope screen
reflects the cumulative action potentials of all the neurons in the nerve, called a
compound nerve action potential. Although an action potential follows the allor-none law within a single neuron, it does not necessarily follow this law within
an entire nerve. When you electrically stimulate a nerve at a given voltage, the
stimulus may result in the depolarization of most of the neurons, but not
necessarily all of them. To achieve depolarization of all of the neurons, a higher
stimulus voltage may be needed.
Eliciting a Nerve Impulse
In the following experiments, you will be investigating what kinds of stimuli trigger
an action potential. To begin, select Neurophysiology of Nerve Impulses from
the main menu. The opening screen will appear in a few seconds. Note that a
sciatic nerve from a frog has been placed into the nerve chamber. Leads go
from the stimulator output to the nerve chamber. Leads also go from the nerve
chamber to the oscilloscope. Notice that these leads are red and black. The
stimulus travels along the red lead to the nerve. When the nerve depolarizes, it
will generate an electrical impulse that will travel along the red wire to the
oscilloscope, and back to the nerve along the black wire.
Activity: Electrical Stimulation
1. Set the voltage at 1.0 V by clicking the (+) button next to the Voltage display.
2. Click Single Stimulus.
Do you see any kind of response on the oscilloscope screen?

If you saw no response, or a flat line indicating no action potential, click the Clear
button on the oscilloscope, increase the voltage, and click Single Stimulus
again until you see a trace (deflection of the line) that indicates an action
potential.

What was the threshold voltage, or the voltage at which you first saw an action
potential? _____________ V
Click Record Data on the data collection box to record your results.
3. If you wish to print your graph, click Tools and then Print Graph. You may
do this each time after you have generated a graph on the oscilloscope screen.
4. Increase the voltage by 0.5 V and click Single Stimulus.
How does this tracing compare to the one trace that was generated at the
threshold voltage? (Hint: look very carefully at the tracings.)

What reason can you give for your answer?

Click Record Data on the data collection box to record your results.
5. Continue to increase the voltage by 0.5 V and clicking Single Stimulus until
you find the point beyond which no further increase occurs in the peak of the
action potential trace. Record this maximal voltage here: ______________ V
Click Record Data to record your results.
Now that we have seen that an electrical impulse can cause an action potential,
lets try some other methods of stimulating a nerve.

Activity: Mechanical Stimulation

1. Click the Clear button on the oscilloscope.
2. Using the mouse, click and drag the glass bar over to the nerve and place it
over the nerve. When the glass rod is over the nerve, release the mouse button.
This will indicate that the rod is now touching the nerve. What do you see on the
oscilloscope screen?

How does this tracing compare with the other tracings that you have generated?

Click Record Data to record your results. Leave the graph on the screen so that
you can compare it to the graph you will generate in the next activity.

Activity: Thermal Stimulation

1. Click on the glass rod and drag it to the heater, releasing the mouse button.
Click on the Heat button. When the rod turns red, indicating that it has been
heated, click and drag the rod over the nerve and release the mouse button.
What happens?

How does this trace compare to the trace that was generated with the unheated
glass bar?

What explanation can you provide for this?

Click Record Data to record your results. Then click Clear to clear the
oscilloscope screen for the next activity.

Activity: Chemical Stimulation

1. Click and drag the dropper from the bottle of sodium chloride (salt solution)
over to the nerve in the chamber and then release the mouse button to dispense
drops. Does this generate an action potential?

2. Using your threshold setting, stimulate the nerve. Does this tracing differ from
the original threshold stimulus tracing?

Explain your answer.

Click Record Data to record your results.

3. Click the Clean button on top of the nerve chamber. This will return the nerve
to its original (non-salted) state. Click Clear to clear the oscilloscope screen.
4. Click and drag the dropper from the bottle of hydrochloric acid and drag it over
the nerve, and release the mouse button to dispense drops. Does this generate
an action potential?

5. Does this tracing differ from the original threshold stimulus?

Why?

Click Record Data to record your results.

6. Click on the Clean button on the nerve chamber to clean the chamber and
return the nerve to its untouched state.
To summarize your experimental results, what kinds of stimuli can elicit an action
potential?

You have reached the end of this activity. To continue on to the next activity,
click the Experiment pull-down menu and select Inhibiting a Nerve Impulse. T

Inhibiting a Nerve Impulse

Numerous physical factors and chemical agents can impair the ability of nerve
fibers to function. For example, deep pressure and cold temperature both block
nerve impulse transmission by preventing local blood supply from reaching the
nerve fibers. Local anesthetics, alcohol and numerous other chemicals are also
very effective in blocking nerve transmission. In this activity, we will study the
effects of various agents on nerve transmission.
The display screen for this activity is very similar to the screen in the first activity.
To the left are bottles of several agents that we will test on the nerve. Keep the
tracings you printed out from the first activity close at hand for comparison.

Activity: Testing the Effects of Ether

1. Using the mouse, click and drag the dropper from the bottle marked Ether over
to the nerve, in between the stimulating electrodes and recording electrodes.
Release the mouse button to dispense drops.
2. Click Stimulate, using the voltage setting from the threshold stimulus you
used in the earlier activities. What sort of trace do you see?

What has happened to the nerve?

Click Record Data to record your results.

3. Click on the Time(min.) button on the oscilloscope. The screen will now
display activity over the course of 10 minutes (the space between each vertical
line representing 1 minute each.) Because of the change in time scale, an action
potential will look like a sharp vertical spike on the screen.
4. Click the (+) button under Interval between Stimuli on the stimulator and set
the timer for 2.0 minutes. This will set the stimulus to stimulate the nerve every
two minutes. Click on Stimulate to start the stimulations. Watch the Elapsed
Time display.
How long does it take for the nerve to return to normal?

5. Click on the Stop button to stop this action and to return the elapsed timer to
0.0.
6. Click the Time(msec) button on the oscilloscope to return it to its normal
millisecond display.
7. Click Clear to clear the oscilloscope for the next activity.
8. Click the (-) button under Interval between Stimuli until it is reset to 0.00.

Activity: Testing the Effects of Curare

Curare is a well-known plant extract that South American Indians used to
paralyze their prey. It is an alpha-toxin which binds to acetylcholine binding sites
on the post-synaptic cell membrane, which will prevent the acetylcholine from

acting. Curare blocks synaptic transmission by preventing neural impulses to

flow from neuron to neuron.
1. Click and drag the dropper from the bottle marked Curare and position the
dropper on the nerve, in between the stimulating and recording electrodes.
Release the mouse button to dispense drops.
2. Set the stimulator at the threshold voltage and stimulate the nerve. What
effect on the action potential is noted?

What explains this effect?

What do you think would be the overall effect of curare on the organism?

Click Record Data to record your results.

3. Click on the Clean button on the nerve chamber to remove the curare and
return the nerve to its original untouched state.
4. Click Clear to clear the oscilloscope screen for the next activity.

Activity: Testing the Effects of Lidocaine

Note: Lidocaine is a sodium-channel antagonist.
1. Click and drag the dropper from the bottle marked Lidocaine and position it
over the nerve, between the stimulating and recording electrodes. Release the
mouse button to dispense drops. Does this generate a trace?

2. Stimulate the nerve at the threshold voltage. What sort of tracing is seen?

Why does lidocaine have this effect on nerve fiber transmission?

Click Record Data to record your results.

3. Click on the Clean button on the nerve chamber to remove the lidocaine and
return the nerve to its original untouched state.
You have reached the end of this activity. To continue on to the next activity,
click the Experiment pull-down menu and select Nerve Conduction Velocity.

Nerve Conduction Velocity

As has been pointed out, one of the major physiological properties of neurons is
conductivity: the ability to transmit the nerve impulse to other neurons, muscles
or glands. The nerve impulse, or propagated action potential, occurs when
sodium ions flood into the neuron, causing the membrane to depolarize.
Although this event is spoken of in electrical terms, and is measured using
instruments that measure electrical events, the velocity of the action potential
along a neural membrane does not occur at the speed of light. Rather, this event
is much slower. In certain nerves in the human, the velocity of an action
potential may be as fast as 120 meters per second. In other nerves, conduction
speed is much slower, occurring at a speed of less than 3 meters per second.
In this exercise, the oscilloscope and stimulator will be used along with a third
instrument, the bio-amplifier. The bio-amplifier is used to amplify any
membrane depolarization so that the oscilloscope can easily record the event.
Normally, when a membrane depolarization sufficient to initiate action potential is
looked at, the interior of the cell membrane goes from 70 millivolts to about +40
millivolts. This is easily registered and viewable on an oscilloscope, without the
aid of an amplifier. However, in this experiment, it is the change in the
membrane potential on the outside of the nerve which is being observed. The
change which occurs here during depolarization will be so miniscule that it must
be amplified in order to be visible on the oscilloscope.
A nerve chamber (similar to the one used in the previous two experiments) will
be used. Basically, this is a plastic box with platinum electrodes running across
it. The nerve will be laid on these electrodes. Two electrodes will be used to
bring the impulse from the stimulator to the nerve and three will be used for
recording the membrane depolarization.
In this experiment, we will determine and compare the conduction velocities of
different types of nerves. We will examine four nerves: an earthworm nerve, a

frog nerve and two rat nerves. The earthworm nerve is the smallest of the four.
The frog nerve is a medium-sized myelinated nerve (consult your text's
discussion of myelination.) Rat nerve #1 is a medium-sized unmyelinated nerve.
Rate nerve #2 is a large, myelinated nerve-- the largest nerve in this group. We
will observe the effects of size and myelination on nerve conductivity.
The basic layout of the materials is shown in the opening screen. The two wires
(red and black) from the stimulator connect with the top right side of the nerve
chamber. Three wires (red, black and a bare wire cable) are attached to
connectors on the other end of the nerve chamber and go to the bio-amplifier.
The bare cable serves as a ground reference for the electrical circuit and
provides the reference for comparison of any change in membrane potential.
The bio-amplifier is connected to the oscilloscope so that any amplified
membrane changes can be observed. The stimulator output, called the pulse,
has been connected to the oscilloscope so that when the nerve is stimulated, the
tracing will start across the oscilloscope screen. Thus, the time from the start of
the trace on the left-hand side of the screen (when the nerve was stimulated) to
the actual nerve deflection (from the recording electrodes) can be accurately
measured. This amount of time, usually in milliseconds, is critical for determining
conduction velocity.
Look closely at the screen. The wiring of the circuit may seem complicated, but
really is not. First, look at the stimulator, found on top of the oscilloscope. On
the left side, red and black wires leave the stimulator to go to the nerve chamber.
Remember, the red wire is the hot wire that carries the impulse from the
stimulator and the black wire is the return to the stimulator that completes the
circuit. When the nerve is stimulated, the red recording wire (leaving the left side
of the nerve chamber) will pick up the membrane impulse and bring it to the bioamplifier. The black wire, as before, completes the circuit, and the bare cable
wire simply acts as a reference electrode. The membrane potential, picked up by
the red wire, is then amplified by the bio-amplifier and the output is carried to the
oscilloscope. The oscilloscope then shows the trace of the nerve action
potential.
Activity: Measuring Nerve Conduction Velocity
1. On the stimulator, click on the Pulse button.
2. Turn the bio-amplifier on by clicking the button in the lower left corner of
the bio-amplifier and dragging it to the On setting.
On the left side of the screen are the four nerves which will be studied. The
nerves included are the earthworm, a frog nerve, and two rat nerves of different
sizes. The earthworm as a whole is used because it has a nerve running down
its ventral surface. A frog nerve is used as the frog has long been the animal of
choice in many physiology laboratories. The rat nerves are used so that you may

compare a) the conduction velocity of different sized nerves, and b) the

conduction velocity of a myelinated versus unmyelinated nerve. Remember the
frog nerve is myelinated, and that rat nerve #1 is the same size as the frog nerve,
but unmyelinated. Rat nerve #2, the largest nerve of the bunch, is myelinated.
3. Using the mouse, click and drag the dropper from the bottle labeled
Ethanol over the earthworm and release the mouse button to dispense
drops of ethanol. This will narcotize the worm so it does not move around
during the experiment, but will not affect nerve conduction velocity. The
alcohol is at a low enough percentage that the worm will be fine and back
to normal within 15 minutes.
4. Click and drag the earthworm into the nerve chamber. Be sure the worm
is over both of the stimulating electrodes and all 3 of the recording
electrodes.
5. Using the (+) button next to the Voltage display, set the voltage to 1.0 V.
Then click Stimulate to stimulate the nerve. Do you see an action
potential? If not, increase the voltage by increments of 1.0 V until a trace
is obtained. At what threshold voltage do you first see an action potential
generated? __________ V
6. Next, click on the Measure button located on the stimulator. You will see
a vertical yellow line appear on the far left edge of the oscilloscope screen.
Now click the (+) button under the Measure button. This will move the yellow
line to the right. This line lets you measure how much time has elapsed on the
graph at the point that the line is crossing the graph. You will see the elapsed
time appear on the Time (msec) display on the stimulator. Keep clicking (+)
until the yellow line is right at the point in the graph where the graph ceases
being a flat line and first starts to rise.
7. Once you have the yellow line positioned at the start of the graph's ascent,
note the time elapsed at this point. Click Record Data to record this time on
the data collection graph. PhysioEx will automatically compute the
conduction velocity for you, based on this data. Note that the data collection
box includes a Distance (mm) column and that this distance is always 43mm.
This is the distance between the red stimulating wire to the red recording
wire. In a wet lab, you would have to measure this distance yourself before
you could proceed with calculating the conduction velocity.
It is very important that you have the yellow vertical measuring line positioned
at the start of the graph's rise before you click Record Data-- otherwise, the
conduction velocity calculated for the nerve will be inaccurate.
8. Fill in the data under the Earthworm column on the following chart:

Nerve

Earthworm
(small nerve)

Frog
(medium
nerve,
myelinated)

Rat Nerve #1
(medium
nerve,
unmyelinated)

Rat Nerve #2
(large nerve,
myelinated)

Threshold
voltage
Elapsed time
from
stimulation to
action
potential
Conduction
Velocity

9. Click and drag the earthworm to its original place. Click Clear to clear the
oscilloscope screen.
10. Repeat steps 4-9 for the remaining nerves. Remember to click Record Data
after each experimental run and to fill in the chart for question #8.

Which nerve in the group has the slowest conduction velocity?

What was the speed of the nerve?

Which nerve in the group of 4 has the fastest conduction velocity?

What was the speed of the nerve?

What is the relationship between nerve size and conduction velocity?

Based on the results, what is your conclusion regarding conduction velocity and
whether the nerve is myelinated or not?

What is the major reason for the differences seen in conduction velocity between
the myelinated nerves and the unmyelinated nerves?

Activity: Printing Your Data

When you have finished with all experiments, you can print your recorded data
sets and turn them in if your instructor requests them. Simply go to Tools, and
select Print Data. Remember, you may also print the graphs you generate on
the oscilloscope screen by going to Tools and then selecting Print Graph.