Abstract
Aperiodic firing independent of extraneous stimuli at rates varying between 3–8 and 65–100 Hz (spontaneous firing activity, or SFA) was recorded at ventral root filaments of isolated, sagitally hemisected frog spinal cord. Lowest activity level was observed at temperatures of 7–11°C and an increased rate at either higher or lower temperatures. Some consistent short-lasting changes in SFA were noted straight away during the course of thermal changes: heating and cooling the preparation increased and reduced discharge rate, respectively. Characteristic activity rate for a given temperature level would set in 1–3 min after this level had stabilized. Microwave radiation of the spinal cord (6.45 GHz; specific absorption rates: 0.1, 0.4, and 2.0 W/g; duration 5 min) brought about no significant alteration in SFA at a steady temperature level. Microwave heating of the preparation and raised temperature both produced the same effects in all trials. Results would indicate that a thermal mechanism underlies the microwave effects on SFA at the ventral roots of frog spinal cord.
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Institute of Medical Radiology, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Obninsk. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 723–728, November-December, 1988.
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Pakhomov, A.G. Effects of microwave irradiation and temperature on spontaneous ventral root discharges in prog spinal cord. Neurophysiology 20, 521–525 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02150252
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02150252