The Spark of Life: Electricity in the Human Body (45 page)
Read The Spark of Life: Electricity in the Human Body Online
Authors: Frances Ashcroft
strychnine poisoning 251–3
Strychnos ingati
a 252
Strychnos nux-vomica
252
sudden cardiac death 140–41, 148, 155–6, 157–8, 159–62
sulphonylureas 3–4
sundew 190
surfactant 175
sweat 165, 176, 177–8, 179, 303
Sydenham, Thomas 277
synaesthesia 243–4
synapse
89
, 81–2, 88–9, 127, 233
nerve-muscle 81–3, 86, 90–91, 104
nerve-nerve 86–8, 246–7, 260, 264, 268, 269–70
electrical 99–100, 191
inhibitory 246, 251–2
see also
acetylcholine, acetylcholinesterase, curare, nerve gas, neurotransmitters
synaptic plasticity 269–70
synaptic vesicle 82, 88–90,
89
, 91–2,
194
, 196
Synsepalum dulcificum
(miracle fruit) 212–13
syphilis 257
systole
142
tachycardia 148–9
Tasers 302
taste 212–15
see also smell
taste buds 213, 316n
taste receptors 213–15
taxi drivers 267
temperature sensing 219–21
Temple of Health 289–91
terfenidine 161–2
Tesla, Nikola 299, 301
tetrodotoxin 54–5, 70–2, 73–4, 75
thalamus 274
Thales of Miletus 10
Thanatos 314n
Thomsen, Asmus 108
Thomsen’s myotonia 108–9, 112
tinnitus 212
tobacco 259–60
Topsy (elephant) 285–6, 300, 316n
torpedo 125–7
electric organs
122,
126
, 126–7, 128
electric shock 117, 128, 286, 314n
electroplaques 126–8
torsade de pointes 159–60
touch 219
Townshend, Peter 211
transmitter
see
neurotransmitter
TRP channels 220–21
TRPA1 221
TRPM5 214
tubocurarine 93
twitch (use on horses) 278
ultraviolet light 79, 199, 200, 201
units of electricity 34, 36
Ure, Andrew 29–30
urine 10, 176, 180, 181–2, 199
vagus nerve 55, 83, 87,165–7
Vagus-stoff 83
see also
acetylcholine
Van de Graaf generator 13, 297
vasopressin 261
ventricular fibrillation 150–51, 153–5, 156, 160, 168
Venus flytrap 189–90, 191
Verne, Jules 14
Vesalius 150
vesicle
see
synaptic vesicle
Viagra 164, 197
Vibrio cholerae
(cholera) 179
Victoria, Queen 279–80
Vin Mariani 258
viper, pit 199, 221
vision
acuity 195
colour 195–6, 198–203, 241–2
illusions 241–2
in dark 198
migraine aura 244–5
photodetection 195–7
synaesthesia 243–4
see also
eye
Vissery, Monsieur de 19–20
visual cortex 236, 240, 242, 245
vitamin A 195, 315n
vole, prairie 261
Volta, Alessandro 24–7, 32, 34
voltage difference 21, 35, 38, 124,
across cell membrane 43, 51, 61–2, 63, 92, 104, 113, 174, 208
across electroplaque cell 123,
124
voltage clamp 65
voltage-dependent gating 52–3
voltaic pile
28
, 25–6, 28–9, 123
volts (V) 10, 13, 15, 21, 52
definition of 34, 36, 314n
electricity supply 52, 298–9
in electric shock 119, 121, 123, 126–7, 286, 297–8, 300
wakefulness 275, 282–3
Walker, Adam 15
Walker, Mary 98–9
Waller, August
144,
143–5
Walpole, Horace 291
Walton, Ernest 15
wasabi 221, 316n
water channels
see
aquaporins
waterwheel plant 190
watts 151, 314n
Wells, Horace 279
Wernicke’s area 234–5, 238
Wesley, John 287–9
Westinghouse, George 299, 301
Wheeldon, Alice 93–4
white matter 229
Wilson, Benjamin 18–19
Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome 155–6
wolfsbane 76
Woods Hole (Cape Cod) 61, 63, 65, 67, 68
Woolf, Virginia 245
World War I 60, 85, 94, 258
World War II 63, 77, 83–6, 195, 248, 293, 313n
Xenophon 77
Young, John Zachary 61
Young, Thomas 198–9
Copyright © 2012 by Frances Ashcroft
First American Edition 2012
All rights reserved
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ashcroft, Frances M.
The spark of life : electricity in the human body / Frances Ashcroft ;
line drawings by Ronan Mahon. — 1st American ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-393-07803-9 (hardcover)
1. Electrophysiology—Popular works. 2. Human physiology. I. Title.
QP341.A77 2012
612’.01427—dc23
2012021264
eISBN: 978-0-393-08954-7
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110
W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT
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