The Mode of Operation of the Electric Receptors in Gymnarchus Niloticus
Open Access
- 1 December 1960
- journal article
- Published by The Company of Biologists in Journal of Experimental Biology
- Vol. 37 (4), 801-811
- https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.37.4.801
Abstract
1. Two possible modes of action of the electric receptors of Gymnarchus niloticus are described. In one, received pulses are ‘smoothed’ and a sensory discharge occurs dependent only on the smoothed level (‘pulse-frequency-modulation’). According to the other mechanism, sensory nerve impulses are produced at the same frequency as the received pulses, but after a delay dependent on their amplitude (‘pulse-phase-modulation’). 2. An experiment has been devised to distinguish between the two mechanisms, and, if the pulse-frequency-modulation mechanism is the operative one, to measure the smoothing time-constant. 3. The results favour the pulse-frequency-modulation mechanism, and indicate a smoothing time-constant of 25 msec. It appears also that adaptation takes place in the electric receptors. 4. The origin of the smoothing action is discussed. 5. The sensitivity of electric receptors is compared with that of other sense organs.This publication has 8 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Mechanism of Object Location in Gymnarchus Niloticus and Similar FishJournal of Experimental Biology, 1958
- On the Function and Evolution of Electric Organs in FishJournal of Experimental Biology, 1958
- PROCESSES OF EXCITATION IN THE DENDRITES AND IN THE SOMA OF SINGLE ISOLATED SENSORY NERVE CELLS OF THE LOBSTER AND CRAYFISHThe Journal of general physiology, 1955
- The site of electrical excitation of the human eyeThe Journal of Physiology, 1955
- Properties of the receptor potential in Pacinian corpusclesThe Journal of Physiology, 1953
- Über die Riechschärfe des Hundes für FettsäurenJournal of Comparative Physiology A, 1953
- The Space-Time Pattern of the Cochlear Microphonics (Guinea Pig), as Recorded by Differential ElectrodesThe Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1952
- Continuous Electrical Signals from the Tail of a Fish, Gymnarchus niloticus Cuv.Nature, 1951