THE TWO-WAY DISTRIBUTION OF NERVOUS PULSES OPEN BY HYSTOLOGIST AI BABUKHIN - THE BASIS OF THE RETICULAR THEORY

Reticular theory of the nervous system presupposes the electrical and tinctorial interrelation of neurons in the nervous system with the help of syncytial bridges in the brain and ganglion network formations. This means that the impulses spread in all directions along the path of the nervous branches. The neuronal theory presupposes complete cytoplasmic isolation of adjacent neurons. The basic position of the neural doctrine provides for a successive transition of the nerve impulse in one direction from one neuron to another, along a reflex arc. This «law of dynamic polarization» was formulated simultaneously in 1891 by two great neurohistologists Ramon y Cajal and Van Gehuchten. Later, this law seemed to be brilliantly confirmed by the discovery of mediator synapses using electron microscopy. Electron microscopy of chemical synapses allowed us to consider Cajal's neuronal theory as the only true and absolutely proven one. Neuronal theory confidently entered in the all textbooks and neurology manuals, and the theory of reticularism was recognized as erroneous and incorrect. However, at the end of the last century the situation changed to the opposite. Inter-neuronal syncytial communication and electrical synapses were discovered, the function of which is performed by means of gap junction. Reticular theory was given the right to scientific experimental confirmation. An important role in the proof of reticularism was played by the discovery of the propagation of a nerve impulse along the fiber in both directions, made for the first time by Alexander Babukhin and confirmed by C.S. Sherrington. In the article is describe the history of the finding of bidirectional electric current in experiments on electrical organs of fish and the experimental study of the morphological basis for the possibility of electric transfer of impulses in the peripheral autonomic nerve plexuses. It is shown that gap junctions are constantly found in plexuses of autonomous nervous system both in norm and under hypoxia. Thus, early studies of Alexander Babukhin on the possibility of bidirectional movement of nerve impulses were confirmed by morphological studies of the supporters of the reticular theory of Camillo Golgi on the inter-neuron non-mediator connection of neurons in vegetative plexuses. The discovery of electrical synapses opened up new ideas about the organization and functioning of the entire nervous system.

bidirectionality of the nerve impulse, gap junctions, electric synapses, syncytial perforations

1. Ramon y Cajal S. Significacion fisiologica de las expansiones protoplàsmicas y nerviosas de la sustancia gris. Rev. Scienc. Med. Barcel. 1891;22:1-15.

2. Van Gebuchten. La Structure des Centres Nerveux. Louvain. 1891. 193pp.

3. Dogiel AS. Zur Frage über den Bau der Nervenzellen und über das Verhältniss ihres Axencylinder-(Nerven-) Fortsatzes zu den Protoplasmafortsützen (Dendriten). Arh. Mikrosk. 1893;41:62-87.

4. Retzius G. Biologische untersuchunden. Neue Folge. Jena: Vong Fischer; 1894. Bd. VI. 325pp.

5. Darvin Ch.R. Puteshestvie naturalista vokrug sveta na korable "Bigl"'. M., L.: Izd. CK VLKSM; 1936. 399s.

6. Babuhin A.I. Jelektricheskie organy u ryb. M.: Retinoidy; 2007. 87s.

7. Vvedenskij N.E. Polnoe sobranie sochinenij. L.: Izd. Len. gos. univer. im. A.A. Zhdanova; 1954. T. 5. 380s.

8. Langley JN, Anderson HK. On Reflex Action from Sympathetic Ganglia. J. Physiol. 1894;6(5-6):410-440.

9. Sherrington CS. Doubl (antidrome) conduction in the central nervous system. Lond. Proc. R. Soc. 1897;61:243-246.

10. Krid R., Denni-Broun D., Ikkls I., Liddell E., Sherrington Ch. Reflektornaja dejatel'nost' spinnogo mozga. M.-L.: Gos. izd. biol. i med. lit., 1935. 268s.

11. Bykov K.M., Vladimirov G.E., Delov V.E., Konradi G.P., Slonim A.D. Uchebnik fiziologii. M.: Medgiz, 1954. 891s.

12. Buzsáki G. Electrical wirng of the oscillating brain. Neuron. 2001;31(3):342-344.

13. Draguhn A, Traub RD, Bibbig A, Schmitz D. Ripple (approximately 200-Hz) oscillations in temporal structures. J. Clin. Neurophysiol. 2000;17(4):361-376.

14. Mazzarello P. Camillo Golgi's scientific biography. J. Histol. Neurosci. 1999;8(2):121-131. (Dalhousie Univerity. 2012).

15. Jin NG, Ribelayga CP. Direct Evidence for Daily Plasticity of Electrical Coupling Between Rod Photoreceptors in the Mammalian Retina. J. Neurosci. 2016;36(1):178-184. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3301-15.2016.

16. Okun M, Steinmetz NA, Cossell L, lacaruso MF, Ko H, Barthó P, Moore T, Hofer SB, Mrsic-Flogel TD, Carandini M, Harris KD. Diverse coupling of neurons to populations in sensory cortex. Nature. 2015;521(7553):511-515. DOI: 10.1038/nature14273.

17. Rosa EJr, Skilling QM, Stein W. Effects of reciprocal inhibitory coupling in model neurons. Biosystems. 2015;127:73-83. DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2014.11.002.

18. Dargaei Z, Colmers PL, Hodgson HM, Magoski NS. Electrical coupling between Aplysia bag cell neurons: characterization and role in synchronous firing. J. Neurophysiol. 2014;112(11):2680-2696. DOI: 10.1152/jn.00494.2014.