Abstract

Single neurons of rat spinal ganglia were investigated in adult rats using a voltage clamping technique and intracellular microelectrodes. Removing sodium ions from the extracellular medium and adding tetraethylammonium to it enabled the calcium component of action potentials to be recorded. It was found that progressive selective suppression of this component takes place during extracellular recording, indicating a decrease in calcium conductivity, while sodium and potassium levels are maintained. It is suggested that this disturbance is caused by excessive influx of calcium, strontium, or barium ions into the cell. The calcium component of action potentials was also found to depend on stimulation rate; this dependence differed where calcium ions were replaced by strontium or barium ions. A possible connection between this effect and the process of voltage-dependent inactivation of calcium channels is discussed.

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