The Spark of Life: Electricity in the Human Body (45 page)

strychnine poisoning 251–3

Strychnos ingati
a 252

Strychnos nux-vomica
252

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

sulphonylureas 3–4

sundew 190

surfactant 175

sweat 165, 176, 177–8, 179, 303

Sydenham, Thomas 277

synaesthesia 243–4

synapse
89
, 81–2, 88–9, 127, 233

   nerve-muscle 81–3, 86, 90–91, 104

   nerve-nerve 86–8, 246–7, 260, 264, 268, 269–70

   electrical 99–100, 191

   inhibitory 246, 251–2

   
see also
acetylcholine, acetylcholinesterase, curare, nerve gas, neurotransmitters

synaptic plasticity 269–70

synaptic vesicle 82, 88–90,
89
, 91–2,
194
, 196

Synsepalum dulcificum
(miracle fruit) 212–13

syphilis 257

systole
142

tachycardia 148–9

Tasers 302

taste 212–15

   see also smell

taste buds 213, 316n

taste receptors 213–15

taxi drivers 267

temperature sensing 219–21

Temple of Health 289–91

terfenidine 161–2

Tesla, Nikola 299, 301

tetrodotoxin 54–5, 70–2, 73–4, 75

thalamus 274

Thales of Miletus 10

Thanatos 314n

Thomsen, Asmus 108

Thomsen’s myotonia 108–9, 112

tinnitus 212

tobacco 259–60

Topsy (elephant) 285–6, 300, 316n

torpedo 125–7

   electric organs
122,
126
, 126–7, 128

   electric shock 117, 128, 286, 314n

   electroplaques 126–8

torsade de pointes 159–60

touch 219

Townshend, Peter 211

transmitter
see
neurotransmitter

TRP channels 220–21

   TRPA1 221

   TRPM5 214

tubocurarine 93

twitch (use on horses) 278

ultraviolet light 79, 199, 200, 201

units of electricity 34, 36

Ure, Andrew 29–30

urine 10, 176, 180, 181–2, 199

vagus nerve 55, 83, 87,165–7

Vagus-stoff 83

   
see also
acetylcholine

Van de Graaf generator 13, 297

vasopressin 261

ventricular fibrillation 150–51, 153–5, 156, 160, 168

Venus flytrap 189–90, 191

Verne, Jules 14

Vesalius 150

vesicle
see
synaptic vesicle

Viagra 164, 197

Vibrio cholerae
(cholera) 179

Victoria, Queen 279–80

Vin Mariani 258

viper, pit 199, 221

vision

   acuity 195

   colour 195–6, 198–203, 241–2

   illusions 241–2

   in dark 198

   migraine aura 244–5

   photodetection 195–7

   synaesthesia 243–4

   
see also
eye

Vissery, Monsieur de 19–20

visual cortex 236, 240, 242, 245

vitamin A 195, 315n

vole, prairie 261

Volta, Alessandro 24–7, 32, 34

voltage difference 21, 35, 38, 124,

   across cell membrane 43, 51, 61–2, 63, 92, 104, 113, 174, 208

   across electroplaque cell 123,
124

voltage clamp 65

voltage-dependent gating 52–3

voltaic pile
28
, 25–6, 28–9, 123

volts (V) 10, 13, 15, 21, 52

   definition of 34, 36, 314n

   electricity supply 52, 298–9

   in electric shock 119, 121, 123, 126–7, 286, 297–8, 300

wakefulness 275, 282–3

Walker, Adam 15

Walker, Mary 98–9

Waller, August
144,
143–5

Walpole, Horace 291

Walton, Ernest 15

wasabi 221, 316n

water channels
see
aquaporins

waterwheel plant 190

watts 151, 314n

Wells, Horace 279

Wernicke’s area 234–5, 238

Wesley, John 287–9

Westinghouse, George 299, 301

Wheeldon, Alice 93–4

white matter 229

Wilson, Benjamin 18–19

Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome 155–6

wolfsbane 76

Woods Hole (Cape Cod) 61, 63, 65, 67, 68

Woolf, Virginia 245

World War I 60, 85, 94, 258

World War II 63, 77, 83–6, 195, 248, 293, 313n

Xenophon 77

Young, John Zachary 61

Young, Thomas 198–9

Copyright © 2012 by Frances Ashcroft

First American Edition 2012

All rights reserved

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ashcroft, Frances M.

The spark of life : electricity in the human body / Frances Ashcroft ;
line drawings by Ronan Mahon. — 1st American ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-393-07803-9 (hardcover)

1. Electrophysiology—Popular works. 2. Human physiology. I. Title.

QP341.A77 2012

612’.01427—dc23

2012021264

eISBN: 978-0-393-08954-7

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110

www.wwnorton.com

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT

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