Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Slice Patch Clamp Technique for Analyzing Learning-Induced Plasticity
Published on: November 11, 2017
The effect of metacaine on the slow variation of peak sodium currents in potential clamped Ranvier nodes following
1Institute of Physiology, University of Kiel, Federal Republic of Germany.
Abstract:
The effect of changes in the holding potential on peak sodium currents in isolated myelinated nerve fibres (peak INa) was investigated with the conventional sodium inactivation being kept at h infinity = 1. In Ringer solution no stationary values of peak INa could be obtained over the potential range tested. Near the normal resting potential, ER, peak INa changed with time clearly even after 10 min. Therefore, the individual values of peak INa as normalized by peak INa at ER and corrected for the unevitable run-down of peak INa could not serve as measure for stationary values of any membrane parameter. Under metacaine (1 mmol/l) peak INa changed comparably faster and proved to be less potential dependent as compared to peak INa of the untreated fibre. The effects observed are not necessarily governed by a specific process located inside the nodal membrane.
Related Concept Videos
Action Potentials
The Resting Membrane Potential
Patch Clamp
In this method, a glass micropipette containing electrolyte solution is tightly sealed against a small portion of the cell membrane. As a result, a patch of the cell...
Generation of Action Potential in Skeletal Muscles
Like neurons, muscle cells are also regarded as excitable due to their capacity to change in response to stimuli, primarily due to voltage-gated ion channels embedded in their plasma membranes, which get activated by alterations in the cell's...
Relaxation of Skeletal Muscles
When an action potential reaches the axon terminal, it depolarizes the membrane and opens voltage-gated sodium channels. Sodium ions enter the cell, further depolarizing the presynaptic membrane. This depolarization causes voltage-gated calcium channels to open.
Action Potential: Phases of Stimulation
Resting Phase:
In this phase, the cell's membrane is at its resting potential, typically around -70 millivolts (mV) for neurons. Inside the cell, there is a higher concentration of potassium ions (K+) and a lower concentration of sodium ions (Na+). Voltage-gated sodium channels are closed, and...

