Abolishment of the Ranvier node excitability under quasi-total deuteration and rhythmic stimulation.

ABSTRACT

The isolated nerve fibre, when quasi-totally deuterated, loses its excitability after about 15' of rhythmic stimulation at frequencies of 150-200 Hz. It is only on internal rehydration that excitability is recovered at high frequencies of stimulation. An excitation-energy coupling is suggested to exist, which appears to be more obvious at high frequencies of stimulation and strongly affected by the proton-deuteron exchange in the intracellular medium.