Influence of a Constant Magnetic Field on Nervous Tissues: I. Nerve Conduction Velocity Studies

A study of the biomagnetic response of the circumesophageal connective of the lobster has been undertaken in order to investigate the influence of a constant magnetic field upon (i) the nerve impulse conduction velocity of the entire trunk, and (ii) the membrane potentials and the transmembrane currents of the giant axon of this nerve, under voltage-clamp conditions using the double sucrose gap technique. In this first paper, the results of the conduction velocity experiments are reported. They show that there is no significant effect of a 1.2 T magnetic field upon conduction velocity of the isolated nerve of the lobster, in either parallel or perpendicular configurations with respect to the field. The results of the biomagnetic experiments on the giant axon of the lobster under current-clamp and voltage-clamp conditions will be reported later.