Jaime Alvarez and the case against slow axoplasmic transport: some epistemological reflections
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Updated: Oct 3, 2026

Expanding the Toolkit for In Vivo Imaging of Axonal Transport
Published on: December 23, 2021
1Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de los Andes, San Carlos de Apoquindo 2200, Las Condes, Santiago 6782468, Chile. aserani@uandes.cl
Abstract:
The 'slow axoplasmic transport theory' has been the prevailing view over the last forty years in order to explain the metabolic maintenance of neuronal axons and nerve endings. A significant amount of evidence against this theoretic interpretation of the existing experimental data has been presented by J. Alvarez, A. Giuditta and E. Koenig in an exhaustive review. They propose an alternative theoretical interpretation called the 'local synthesis model', integrating recent evidence for axon biology and regeneration. We present some epistemological considerations that reinforce the above criticisms and propositions.
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