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Mental Changes Resulting from the Passage of Small Direct Currents Through the Human Brain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

O. C. J. Lippold  and
J. W. T. Redfearn
O. C. J. Lippold
Affiliation:
From the Department of Physiology, University College, London, and Graylingwell Hospital, Chichester, Sussex
J. W. T. Redfearn
Affiliation:
From the Department of Physiology, University College, London, and Graylingwell Hospital, Chichester, Sussex
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Extract

The passage of small direct currents through nerve cells gives rise to changes in their excitability. For example an outward current flow through the membrane of the soma gives rise to depolarization and a consequent fall in the threshold for excitation of the neurone. When a cell lies in an applied external electrical field a potential gradient exists between the cell body and its distant processes. If this gradient is such that the cell body is negative relative to its processes, the cell becomes more excitable; it becomes less excitable when the cell body is relatively positive.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 110 , Issue 469 , November 1964 , pp. 768 - 772
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1964 

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References

Bishop, G. H., and O'Leary, J. L. (1950). “The effects of polarising currents on cell potentials and their significance in the interpretation of central nervous system activity.” EEG Clin. Neurophysiol., 2, 401–416.Google Scholar
Lippold, O. C. J., Redfearn, J. W. T., and Winton, L. J. (1961). “The potential level at the surface of the cerebral cortex of the rat and its relation to the cortical activity evoked by sensory stimulation.” J. Physiol., 157, 7–9.Google Scholar
Bindman, L. J., Lippold, O. C. J., and Redfearn, J. W. T. (1962). “Long-lasting changes in the level of the electrical activity of the cerebral cortex produced by polarising currents.” Nature, 196, 584–585.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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