Question

Sir John Eccles discovered that if a neuron was stimulated, a chemical substance was released into a synapse that caused a nearby neuron to allow the movement of sodium ions into the cell. In turn, this caused the charge of the internal membrane to increase and become more positive and an action potential became more likely to occur. This was a reversal of the electric charge.

True or False

Answer 1

True

Step-by-step explanation:

Sir John Eccles won a Nobel prize in Physiology for his work on the excitation and inhibition of nerve cells across nerve cell membranes.

He discovered how nerve cells communicate or talk with one another by carrying impulses or signals across their membranes. These communications often lead to an action being performed or vice versa. These signals are in the form of small electric charges.

His research showed that by measuring the varying amount of electric charge the across the nerve membranes, one could show how the nerve cells communicate to one anther either by their excitation or inhibiting effect.

Hence, when a nerve cell is excited by a small electric charge or impulse, it releases a chemical substance into the nerve membrane (or synapse) which in turn allows the movement of sodium ions into the nerve cell and reverses the electric charge. The movement of sodium ions into the nerve cell increases the charge of the membrane thereby increasing the likelihood of an action potential occurring.