Abstract
A theoretical analysis is presented of the change in membrane potential produced by current supplied by a microelectrode inserted just under the membrane of a spherical cell. The results of the analysis are presented in tabular and graphic form for three wave forms of current: steady, step function, and sinusoidal. As expected from physical reasoning, we find that the membrane potential is nonuniform, that there is a steep rise in membrane potential near the current microelectrode, and that this rise is of particular importance when the membrane resistance is low, or the membrane potential is changing rapidly. The effect of this steep rise in potential on the interpretation of voltage measurements from spherical cells is discussed and practical suggestions for minimizing these effects are made: in particular, it is pointed out that if the current and voltage electrodes are separated by 60°, the change in membrane potential produced by application of current is close to that which would occur if there were no spatial variation of potential. We thus suggest that investigations of the electrical properties of spherical cells using two microelectrodes can best be made when the electrodes are separated by 60°.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.1 MB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Eisenberg R. S. The equivalent circuit of single crab muscle fibers as determined by impedance measurements with intracellular electrodes. J Gen Physiol. 1967 Jul;50(6):1785–1806. doi: 10.1085/jgp.50.6.1785. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- FALK G., FATT P. LINEAR ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF STRIATED MUSCLE FIBRES OBSERVED WITH INTRACELLULAR ELECTRODES. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1964 Apr 14;160:69–123. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1964.0030. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hellerstein D. Passive membrane potentials: a generalization of the theory of electrotonus. Biophys J. 1968 Mar;8(3):358–379. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(68)86493-8. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- RALL W. Branching dendritic trees and motoneuron membrane resistivity. Exp Neurol. 1959 Nov;1:491–527. doi: 10.1016/0014-4886(59)90046-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]