• Alexander G Dimitrov and Nonna A Dimitrova.
• Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev Str., Bl. 105, Sofia, 1113, Bulgaria.
• Muscle Nerve. 2014 Jan 1; 49 (1): 47-55.

IntroductionRecent optical recordings of transmembrane potentials in the axons of pyramidal neurons have shown that the internodal action potentials (APs) predicted in our previous studies do exist. These novel processes are not well understood. In this study we aim to clarify electrical phenomena in peripheral myelinated axons (MAs).MethodsWe used a multi-cable Hodgkin-Huxley-type model to simulate MAs with potassium channels that were either normal or inhibited along a short region of the internodal membrane. A brief stimulus was applied to the first node.ResultsWe demonstrated peculiarities in the internodal APs induced by a saltatory AP: They existed across internodal membranes, were detectable in periaxonal space but not in intracellular space, propagated continuously, collided near the mid-internodes, and produced internodal sources of afterdischarges.ConclusionsThese results highlight the importance of the MA internodal regions as new therapeutic targets for avoiding afterdischarges provoked by reduced axonal fast potassium channel expression.Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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