Properties of nerve fiber

Dr Sara Mukhtar
Guyton & Mushtaq
Learning outcomes
By the end of this interactive sessions, 1st year dental students are
expected to:

• Discuss the properties of nerve fibers.

• Describe the mechanism of summation and tetanization in nerve

fiber.
PROPERTIES OF:
NERVE FIBER (AXON)
SKELETAL MUSCLE FIBER
• Excitability • Excitability (Strength Duration curve).
• Contractility • Electrical potentials (spike potential)
• Tetanization • Tetany.
• Conductivity • Myelin sheath.
• Diameter & Conductivity.
• All or none law
• All or none law.
• Refractory period
• Refractory period.
• Summation
• Summation (Temporal & spatial)
• Fatigue
• Non fatigue-ability
Action potential of
Nerve fiber:
Properties of Action Potential:
• Sudden / abrupt in onset.
• Of limited magnitude / amplitude.
• It goes to +35 to 40 mV & comes back. (biphasic)
• Short duration (may be few millisec).
• It obeys all or none law. (if a stimulus is threshold or suprathreshold 
action potential is produced with its maximum amplitude, if
subthreshold stimulus not produced at all).
• Self propagating. (automatically propagated in both directions).
• Has a refractory period. (when there wont be response to 2nd potential).
Refractory period:
• Absolute: During depolarization & first 1/3 of repolarization. Here
sodium inactivation gates are still closed & will not open till potential
reaches resting value.
• Relative: From end of first 1/3 of repolarization to the beginning of
after depolarization (here stronger stimulus can produce action
potential).
• Super normal period: During After depolarization, there is super
normal period. Tissue is most excitable. Here potential is – 65 mV, so
small change is required to stimulate.
• Sub-normal period: During After hyper-polarization it occurs, because
tissue is difficult to be excited because potential becomes – 95 mV.
Diameter & Conductivity:
Strength-Duration Curve:
Units of Excitability:
Rheobase: It is the voltage/strength of stimulus, required just to excite
the tissue ,e.g, 1mV.

Utilization time: The time for which Rheobase must be applied, to

excite the tissue is utilization time ,e.g, 2 ms.

Chronaxie: A time for which a stimulus double the rheobase

(i-e., 2 mV) when applied, just excites the tissue ,e.g., 1 ms.
 SUMMATION
• Adding up of effects of stimuli particularly if stimuli are subthreshold.

• On a single motor neuron, thousands of synaptic knobs terminate to

form synapses.

• About 80% of these synapses are on dendrites, remaining on cell

body & few on axons.

• So single impulse coming to motor neuron through a synapse, cant

excite a motor neuron & there must be summation of effects of stimuli.
SUMMATION DIAGRAM
SUMMATION DIAGRAM
SUMMATION VIDEO:
TYPES OF SUMMATION
TEMPORAL SPATIAL

• Impulses transmit through 1 or • Impulses are conducted along a

few synaptic knobs repeatedly number of synapses
 effects on post-synaptic simultaneously  effects on
neurons are added  postsynaptic neuron are added
stimulation.  excitation.

• Second stimulus must fall when

effect of 1st one is still there.
 TETANY leading to TETANIZATION

TETANY TETANIZATION
• Hyperexcitability of nerve • Hyperexcitability of skeletal
muscle

• Common Cause: hypocalcemia, • Common cause: Claustridium

Parathyroid deficiency, Tetani bacteria. Mechanism ?
Mechanism ? (role play ?)
experimental stimulation in vitro experimental stimulation in vitro
Mechanism ? Mechanism ?
TETANIZATION VIDEO
Incomplete versus Complete tetanization

Complete tetanization / tetanus Incomplete tetanization / tetanus