BIO304H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Voltage Clamp, Patch Clamp, Sodium Channel
Document Summary
Recall: hodgkin + huxley tried to figure out the laws that govern movement of ions during the action potential. They looked at neuron during normal conditions (rmp), sodium concentration during ap, what happens if they change the potential and how inactivation affects it. H + h developed math equations to explain a squid neuron"s behavior they developed this before microscopes or computers. So they basically had to understand how nerve cells work without having an understanding on what neuron even looks like. They used squids because their axons are big enough to manipulate. Current flowing through membrane can be carried by charging or discharging the capacitor. Resistance corresponds to charge being carried by some component. In nerve cell, the components are sodium + potassium ions. There is also a small leak current that can have other ions, like calcium. H+h found how aps are initiated and move. Their model describes the electrical characteristics of cells.
