The Spark of Life: Electricity in the Human Body (43 page)

   
see also
protons

hydrothermal vents 41

hyperkalaemic periodic paralysis (HYPP) 106–8

hypertension 177

hypocretin 27

Imperial Electric Pills 291

impotence 164, 197, 290

Indurain, Miguel 144

infrared radiation 199, 221

insecticide 77–8, 183–4

insulin 1–4, 293, 312n

intracellular messengers 89, 156, 196–7, 313n

ion channel
39
,
42

   acetylcholine receptor
89
, 92, 96, 104

   Catsper (sperm) 172–3

   cyclic GMP-gated 197, 203

   discovery 44–7

   glutamate receptor 214, 247–51, 270, 281

   glycine receptor 251–2, 281

   in cell death 185–7

   in heart action potential 156–7, 158–9

   in muscle action potential 105

   in nerve action potential 66

   in olfaction 217

   in phototransduction 197

   in plants 186–91

   in resting potential 43

   in taste 214–15

   ion selectivity 49–51

   K
_ATP
channel 1–3, 52, 312n

   mechanosensitive 190, 207, 208

   opening and closing 51–3

   structure 48–51

   ryanodine recepotors 113–15

   TRP 214, 220–21

   
see also
calcium channel, potassium channel, sodium channel, ion channel diseases

ion channel diseases 112

   achromatopsia 202–3

   aquaporin channelopathies 182

   Burgada syndrome 157–8

   congenital insensitivity to pain 222

   cystic fibrosis 177–9

   epilepsy 253–5

   erythermalgia 222

   hyperkalaemic periodic paralysis 106–8

   inherited hypotension 177

   Lambert Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) 90–91

   Liddle’s disease 177

   long QT syndrome 140–41, 159–62

   malignant hyperthermia 114–16

   migraine 244–5

   myasthenia gravis 98–9

   myotonia congenita 108–12

   neonatal diabetes 1–4

   paramyotonia congenital 107

   porcine stress syndrome 114–15

   salt-losing syndrome 177

   Southern corn leaf blight 170–71, 186–7

   startle disease 251–2

ions 37

   concentration gradients 39–40, 42, 43

iris 194,
194

Isaac Louis Pulvermacher & Co. 292

Jaffe, Rindy 174

James I, King 259

Jimmie
143,
144–5

John (Prince, son of King George V) 254

Julius, David 220

Jung, Carl 303

juvenile diabetes
see
type 1 diabetes

Kalmijn, Adrianus
131

Kandlbauer, Christian 308

K
_ATP
channel 1–3, 52, 312n

Katz, Bernard 64, 65

Keller, Helen 209

Kemmler, William 300, 301

Kesey, Kevin 296

ketogenic diet 254–5

Kevorkian, Jack 168

kidney 4, 163, 176–7, 181, 315n

kidney tubule 176–7, 181, 315n

killer T-cells 182

Kleist, Ewald Jürgen von 13

knifefish 119, 134–8

   
see also
Gymnarchus

Kosterlitz, Hans 278

Kusch, Roger 168

Lambert Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) 90–91

Larkin, Philip 210

Larsson, Arne 152

lateral line 132

lathyrism 247–9

Lathyrus sativa
(grass pea) 248

alpha-latrotoxin 90

laudanum 277

laughing gas 278–9

Leborgne, Monsieur 234–5

lens 193,
194,
315n

   cataract 200–201

Leo XIII, Pope 258

Leonardo da Vinci 141

Leyden jar 13–14, 15, 17,
23
, 25, 35, 117, 287–8

Liddle’s disease 177

lidocaine 223–4

lightning 8, 9, 14, 16, 35, 116, 313n

   effects on body 21–2

   experiments with 16–17, 23–4

   generation 20–21

lightning conductor/rod 18–20, 31

Lillehei, C. Walton 151–2

limbic system 217

limbs, prosthetic 308–9

limonene 217

lipid 38–40,
39
, 42, 43, 180–81, 185, 281

Lissmann, Hans 134

Loewi, Otto 82–6, 87

Loligo forbesii
61

   
see also
squid

London Electrical Dispensary 289

long QT syndrome 159–62

Louis XV 15

love 257, 260–2

LSD 52, 263–4

Lucas, Keith 59–60

lung(s) 96, 141–2, 151, 279

   cancer 90–91, 259–60

   cystic fibrosis 177–8

   fluid clearance at birth 175–6

Lyon, Emma 290

Macaulay, Catherine 289

Machin, Ken 134, 135, 137

MacKinnon, Rod 50, 313n

magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) 238, 239, 309–10

maize 170–71, 184, 186–7

Malapterurus electricus
(African catfish) 117–19

malignant hyperthermia 114–16

Marine Biological Laboratories Plymouth 61, 64, 65, 67, 68

Marmont, George 65

Martin, Benjamin 15–6

Mason, Alfred 93–4

Meat Loaf 155

mechanosensation 219

mechanosensitive ion channels 190, 207, 208

medical uses of electricity

   cochlear implants 306–7

   deep brain stimulation 305–6, 309, 310

   diathermy 292–3

   electrotherapy 286–92

   electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) 293–6

   prosthetic limbs 308–9

   Pulvermacher electric belt 292

   
see also
defibrillator, pacemaker

Meissner 160

membrane potential 43, 61–3

   depolarization 69

   repolarization 66

   
see also
action potential, resting potential

memory 264–70

   aids 265–6, 311

   brain regions involved 228, 265, 266–9

   consciousness and 283

   long-term 266, 267, 268

   loss 22, 250, 270, 295, 311

   motor skills 269

   short-term 266, 267, 295

   sleep, importance of 275–6

   smell 215–16, 217

   spatial 267–8

   working 266,267

   
see also
dendritic spines, hippocampus, Molaison

meninges 229

menthol 220–21

Michelangelo 9

Miesenböck, Gero 271–2

Mignot, Emmanuel 275

migraine 244–5

Mimosa pudica
191

miracle fruit 212–13

miracle of St Alfege’s 99

miraculin 213

mirror neurone 240

mitochondria
57
, 185–7

Mitsugoro, Bando 71

Molaison, Henry Gustav (HM) 267

molecular biology 48–9

Monet, Claude 200, 201

monkshood 76

monosodium glutamate 214, 250–51

   
see also
glutamate

monotremes 132–3

Moore, John 73

morphine 276–7, 278

Morrisson, Richard 212

Morton, William Thomas Green 279

Mosquito device 211

motor cortex 235, 238, 239, 240–41, 269

motor neurones
103,
103–4

   
see also
motor nerve

motor nerve 55,
103
, 103–4, 224, 248, 294, 302

Mouhot, Henri 218

multiple sclerosis 58

muscarinic receptors 165–6

muscle

   action potential 104–5, 110,
111
, 112, 113–14, 123

   contraction 22, 23, 55, 81, 90–92, 106, 112–14, 115, 116, 121, 235, 309

   innervation
103,
103–4

   stiffness 107,108–9, 112, 305

   structure 103–5

   tubular network 104,
113
, 114

   twitch 23–5, 59, 97, 104–5, 110, 121, 253

   weakness 90, 97, 98–9, 103, 106, 107, 108, 247

   
see also
electroplaque, malignant hyperthermia, myotonia congenita, myotonic goat

muscle spindle 309

Musschenbroek, Pieter van 13–14

mustard 221

myasthenia gravis 98–9

myelin 56–8, 229

myotonia congenita 108–9, 112

myotonic goat 102–3, 109–12,
109, 111
, 252

Nabokov, Vladimir 243, 244

namazu 130

Narahashi, Toshio 73

narcolepsy 274–5

natural killer (NK) cells 182–3

Neher, Erwin 44–8

nerve cell 55
,
100, 185, 233, 256

   brain 226–7, 237, 254, 272, 273, 282, 296

   brain organization 227–9, 239, 257

   communication 51, 81–2, 100, 246–7, 251, 260, 269

   controlling movement 55, 103–4,
103,
224, 248, 253, 294, 302, 305

   death of 229, 245, 247, 248, 250, 270

   energy consumption 40, 238

   grey matter 229

   impulse generation 62, 66, 68–9, 157, 159, 165

   impulse transmission 56–7

   optogenetics 271–2

   place cells 267–8

   sensory detection 55, 205, 217–18, 240, 278

   structure
56
, 56, 231–2,
232

   
see
also
neurone

nerve fibre 55, 56–7, 58–60, 61–2, 228, 229, 230

   giant 62, 272

   motor 104, 224

   sensory 133, 207, 217, 222–3, 224, 302, 306, 307

   
see also
axon, nerve terminal

nerve gas 74, 95–7

nerve impulse 37, 38, 54, 56, 258

   conduction 37, 56, 57, 59–60, 61, 79

   generation 59–60, 61, 63–4, 66–7, 68–9, 79

   in sensory experience 60, 192, 193, 214, 219, 223, 225

   stimulation of muscle contraction 110,

   transmitter release 88–90, 91, 95, 100

   
see also
action potential

nerve-muscle

   junction 85, 86–7,
89,
95, 100, 246, 247

   number of connections 233

   transmission 52,
89,
97, 98

nerve terminal
56
, 85,
89
, 89–90, 91, 92, 97, 246, 308