Post-Tetanic Potentiation

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This paper reviewed examples of increased responsiveness following repetitive stimulation reported in the neurophysiological and psychophysical literature. It takes up systems showing post-tetanic potentiation (neuromuscular system, sympathetic ganglia, spinal cord subcortical nuclei, visual system, auditory system, olfactory system); factors influencing PTP (circulation, temperature, relative position of electrodes, characteristics of tetanus, subnormality); drug effects (K, acetylcholine, eserine, curare); and explanations of PTP (in terms of increased transmitter substance, repetitive discharge and summation, and locus of the effect). The implication is strong that all facilitation may depend upon a similar mechanism and be at the root of learning at all levels of nervous integration. The conflicting views of Lloyd and Eccles concerning the mechanism are presented.

This publication has 55 references indexed in Scilit: