Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Modeling Biological Membranes with Circuit Boards and Measuring Electrical Signals in Axons: Student Laboratory Exercises
Published on: January 18, 2011
The variable character of nerves in a Newfoundland fishing village
Abstract:
The popular complaint nerves has complex and variable meanings in the tiny, coastal fishing village of Grey Rock Harbour, Newfoundland. In everyday life, the term is distinct from mental and physical disease and is instead used to communicate a wide-range of minor psychosomatic complaints as well as emotions, moral standards and world view. The term is so frequently used that in some respects it has become a cliché. Analysis of the variable character of nerves focuses on reconciling the contradictory with the more coherent facets of nerves as a folk idiom. Special attention is paid to the affective character of nerves, especially nerves as "anxiety," which has been hypercognized into a culture-specific and highly elaborated concept of worry.
Related Concept Videos
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...
Peripheral Nervous System: Ganglia and Nerves
Nerves
The nerve is a bundle of axons that serves as the communication highway in the PNS. Each nerve is ensheathed in a protective layer of connective tissue called the epineurium. This outermost layer safeguards the nerve and supports the...
Nervous System
Extending...
Instinctive Drift

