The Spark of Life: Electricity in the Human Body (42 page)

   from toxins 70, 77, 80–1, 93, 95, 96

   from electric shock 121, 286, 296, 300–301

   sudden cardiac death 140–41, 148, 155–6, 157–8, 159–62

deep brain stimulation 305–6, 309, 310

defibrillator 150, 154–5, 161, 304

Delgado, José Manuel Rodriguez 304

Demostratus 10

dendrites 56, 231,
232
, 269

dendritic spines
232
, 269–70

depolarization 66, 69, 168

depression 209, 257, 259, 262, 293, 295, 309

Descartes, René 281

deuteranopia 202

diabetes 222

   neonatal 1–4, 52

   type 1, 3

diastole
142

diathermy 292–3

Dickens, Charles 292

dinoflagellates 72–3

DNA 3, 38, 40, 48–9, 56, 173, 185, 203, 313n

Doberman pinscher dog 275

Doll, Richard 260

dolphin 133, 283

domoic acid 249–50

dopamine 257, 258–9, 261–2

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor 253

dreams 82–3, 273–4

Drosophila
304

   courtship song 271–2

   ether-á-go-go 159

   sperm 173

du Pré, Jacqueline 58

Dufy, Raoul 5, 6

Dumbacher, John 76

durian fruit 218

E-meter 303

ear
204

   basilar membrane 206–7

   cochlear implants 306–7

   hair cells
206
, 206–9,
211,
211–12, 306–7

   sensing sound 205–9

   structure
204
, 205–7

   
see also
hearing, deafness

‘ear songs’ 209

earth (voltage)
see
ground

Eccles, John Carew 86–8

echidna 133

Edison, Thomas 285–6, 299-301

eel, electric 119–25, 127, 128, 133

   electric organs 122–5,
124,
128

   electroplaque 122–5,
124

   
see also Electrophorus

Einthoven, Willem 145–6

electric chair 298, 300–301

electric charge 11, 34, 36, 43

electric fish

   electric shock 25, 32, 117–29,
124, 126
, 286, 314n

   electrical communication 137–9

   electrosensing 129–132,
131,
135–7

   social hierarchy 137–8

   weak electric discharges 133–9

   
see also
electric organ, electroplaque, electroreceptors

electric organ 116

   electric eel 122–5,
124,
128

   torepdo ray
122,
126
, 126–7, 128

electric shock 31, 40, 52, 55, 116, 149, 286, 296–7, 300, 299–301, 302

   cadaver demonstrations 28–9

   electric fish 117–8, 133

   electroconvulsive therapy 293–6

   electrotherapy 286–9

   Leyden jar 14–15, 35–6

   nerve and muscle stimulation 63, 69

   to heart 150, 152, 153, 155, 161

   voltaic pile 25–6

   
see also
electric chair, electrotherapy, defibrillator, Topsy

electric shock treatment 286–8, 289–90, 293–6

   
see also
electroconvulsive therapy

Electrical Ether 291

electricity 126, 141, 187, 284, 286–7, 288, 289, 291, 293, 296

   animal 6, 22, 24–6, 32

   animal and mains supply differences 36–7

   definition of 34

   safety trip switches 297

   static 9–13, 16, 22, 297

   supply 52, 151, 296–7, 298–9, 301

   
see also
electric charge, electrocution, lightning

Electricity Fairy 5

electrocardiogram (ECG) 141, 144–8, 159–60, 162, 310

electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) 293–6

electrocution 296–302

   accidental 296–8

   capital punishment 300–301

   electric chair 298, 300–301

   lightning strike 20, 21–2

   Topsy (elephant) 285–6, 300, 316n

electroencephalogram (EEG) 236–7, 238, 273

electrons 10, 35, 36, 298

Electrophorus electricus
119–25, 126, 127

   
see also
electric eel

electroplaques 135

   electric eel 122–5,
124
, 128

   torpedo ray
122
, 126–7, 128

electroreception 129–139

electroreceptor

   Guiana dolphin 133

   knifefish 136–7

   monotremes 132–3

   shark 130–2, 314n

   
see also
ampullae of Lorenzini

electrostatic generator
12
,
23
, 11–13, 14, 286–8

electrotherapy 286–92

elephant nose fish 137–8

Ellis, Keith 116

Elmqvist, Rune 152

emotions 90, 223, 256, 257, 264, 274, 281, 284, 303

   and memory 264–5, 268

   brain regions involved 217, 228, 234, 240, 273

endorphins 278

epilepsy 237, 238, 253–5, 267

epithelial sodium channels (ENaC channels) 175–7, 180, 214

equilibrium potential 43

ergotamine 263

erythermalgia 222

eserine 86, 97

ether anaesthesia 279–80

Ewins, Arthur 85

excitation–contraction coupling 112–14

exercise

   disease 107,108, 115, 141, 160, 222

   endorphins 278

   heart rate 163, 166–7

   potassium blood levels 168

   serotonin levels 262–3

eye 166, 193–203, 315n

   colour blindness 201–3, 315n

   colour vision 195–6, 198–203, 241–2

   photodetection 195–7

   structure 193–5

   vision in dark 198

   
see also
vision

Faraday, Michael 6, 31–2

Feldberg, Wilhelm 85–6, 97, 314n

Feynman, Richard 243

fish 72, 199, 249, 275

   
see also
electric fish, electric eel, torpedo, puffer fish, knifefish

flying boy experiment
12,
13

Fond, Joseph-Aignan Sigaud de la 35

Frankenstein 8–9, 28, 30, 32, 310

Franklin, Benjamin 6, 16–20, 287, 289, 313n

Freud, Sigmund 258

fruit fly
see
Drosophila

fugu
see
puffer fish

GABA receptors 281

Gage, Phineas 233–4

Galen 141

Gall, Franz Joseph 233

Galvani, Luigi 6, 8, 22–5, 26–7, 30, 32, 33–4, 39, 119, 312n

galvanism 9, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32

galvanometer 59,
143
, 145–6

gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) 247, 254, 281

gap junctions 99–100

garlic 221

general anaesthesia 279–80, 282

George III, King 19

Getahun, Haileyesus 247

Gilbert, William 11

Gladstone, Herbert 145, 314n

glial cells 229

Gloyn, Anna 3

glucose 2–4, 52, 238, 312n

glutamate 214, 247

glutamate receptors 214, 247–51, 270, 281

glycine 247, 251–2

glycine receptors 251–2, 281

Gnathonemus
137

goats, myotonic 102–3, 109–12, 252

Golgi, Camillo 231–2

Gordon, Alex 94

gorilla 243

gout 286

Goya, Francisco de 210

Graham, James 289–91

grass pea 248–9

Gray, Stephen
12,
13

grey matter 229

Griffith, Ellis 144–5

ground (voltage) 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 35–6, 296–7

guard cells 188–9

Guericke, Otto von 11–13

Guillain–Barré syndrome 57–8

Gymnarchus
134–7

Gymnema sylvestre
213

gymnemic acid 213

haemolysin 183

hair cells (of the ear)
204
,
206,
206–12,
211

   damaged 211–12, 306–7

   inner 207–8,
211

   outer 208–9,
211

hallucinogen 264

   see also LSD

happiness 262–3

Harvey, William 141

Hattersley, Andrew 3

Hawkins, John 259

headache 181, 245, 250, 259, 286, 287

hearing 203–12

   cochlear amplifier 208–9

   frequency discrimination 206–7

   hearing aids 306–7, 309

   loss 209–12

   mechanosensitive ion channels 207

   tinnitus 212

   
see also
ear, deafness, hair cells

heart 4, 29, 83, 121, 128, 130, 140–69,
142,
237, 260, 280, 297, 301

   action potential
147
, 147–8, 156–7, 158–9, 168

   computer model 168–9

   contraction 141–2, 144, 147, 148–9, 150, 154, 156–7, 158, 159, 163

   electrical conduction paths
142
, 143–4, 148, 150, 155–6

   ion channels 70, 74, 156–62, 163, 165, 168–9

   structure
142
, 141–4

   vagus nerve inhibition 87, 165–6, 167

   
see also
electrocardiogram, longQT syndrome, Brugada syndrome

heart attack 148, 150–51, 155, 168, 169

heart block 148, 149, 152

heart cells 99, 148, 150, 236

   sinus node (pacemaker) 143, 148–9, 165

   ventricular 147, 148, 168

heart rate 83, 144, 150, 229, 256

   abnormal 148–9

   acetylcholine 83, 165–6

   adrenaline 83, 163–4

   in exercise 155, 166–7

heat sensing 221

hemlock 94–5

HERG potassium channel 159, 162, 169

heroin 278

Heron, Patrick 241–2

Heydrich, Reinhard 80

hippocampus 267–9, 276

Hippocrates 160, 226, 248, 253

Hitchcock, Alfred 249

Hitler, Adolf 85, 313n

Hitzig, Eduard 235

Hodgkin, Alan 60, 62–8, 313n

Hoffman, Albert 263–4

honey (mad) 76–7

Hooke, Robert 38

horse 33, 85, 106–7, 278, 300

Hughes, John 278

Humboldt, Alexander von 32, 93, 119–21

Huxley, Aldous 204–5, 313n, 315n

Huxley, Andrew 62–8, 313n

Huxley, Thomas 88, 313n

hydrogen ions 37, 188–9, 214, 316n