Electric currents in nerve tissue and electric organs

THE function of the nervous system is that of carrying messages from one point of the body to another. Some of these messages may be received from the outside world and transmitted through relay stations to different centers, others are sent from the higher centers to the periphery and so on. The complexity of the system is strikingly demonstrated in the highest animals where it is formed by billions of units, which are the nerve cells or neurons. This communication system has frequently been compared to the telephone system, especially since electric currents are the propagating agents in both systems. Recently highly developed computing machines have been called electric brains, and there is a trend among a group of scientists to consider these electronic machines as a valuable device for obtaining information as to the functioning of the human brain. This new line of approach has been called “cybernetics” and lately has been the object of a great deal of attention.