Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026

In Situ Visualization of Axon Growth and Growth Cone Dynamics in Acute Ex Vivo Embryonic Brain Slice Cultures
Published on: October 14, 2021
Life among the axons
1Department of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. carmstro@mail.med.upenn.edu
Abstract:
A blink in history's eye has brought us an understanding of electricity, and with it a revolution in human life. From the frog leg twitch experiments of Galvani and the batteries of Volta, we have progressed to telegraphs, motors, telephones, computers, and the Internet. In the same period, the ubiquitous role of electricity in animal and plant life has become clear. A great milestone in this journey was the elucidation of electrical signaling by Hodgkin & Huxley in 1952. This chapter gives a personal account of a small part of this story, the transformation of the rather abstract electrical conductances of Hodgkin & Huxley into the more tangible gated ion channel.
Related Concept Videos
Neurons: The Axon
The axon attaches to the cell body at a cone-shaped elevation called the axon hillock. The initial part of the axon, closest to the hillock, is known as the initial segment.
Action Potentials
Action Potential
Membrane potential in neurons
Neurons typically have a resting membrane potential of about -70 millivolts (mV). When they receive...
Action Potential
Membrane potential in neurons
Neurons typically have a resting membrane potential of about -70 millivolts (mV). When they receive...
Nervous Tissue: Myelin
Schwann cells begin to form myelin sheaths around axons during fetal development. They wrap around a small...
Neuron Structure
Structure and Function of Neurons
The neuronal cell body—the soma— houses the nucleus and organelles vital to cellular...

