Axonal Function and Ionic Regulation in the Central Nervous System of a Phytophagous Insect (Carausius Morosus)

Abstract

1. Experiments vising intracellular and extracellular recording techniques indicate that, despite the specialized ionic composition of the haemolymph, the axons in the nerve cord of Carausius are conventional in that the action current is largely carried by sodium ions. 2. This effect is achieved by an appreciable regulation of the concentrations of inorganic ions in the extracellular fluid bathing the axon surfaces. 3. The extra-axonal regulation does not appear to result from any significant restriction in the accessibility of cations to the general extracellular system, but from a local regulation which appears to maintain a relatively high concentration of sodium ions at the axon surfaces. 4. It is suggested that such a regulation may be achieved by an extrusion of sodium ions from the glial cells into the restricted extra-axonal spaces demonstrated in the electron micrographs of this preparation.