ELECTRICAL STIMULATION OF THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM: BIOPHYSICS AND EXCITATION PROPERTIES

Electrical stimulation of peripheral nerve fibers is an important method to study physiological mechanisms and a technique to restore function to persons with neurological disorders. The processes underlying excitation of nerve fibers are presented through the development of quantitative models of the non-linear properties of the neuronal membrane and the response of nerve fibers to extracellular stimulation. Similarly, the properties of nerve fiber excitation are described and the origins of these properties are explained by reference to the quantitative models. The quantitative treatment of nerve fiber excitation provides the means for understanding the origins of experimentally observed phenomena and a set of tools that can be used to design stimulation paradigms that generate the desired pattern of excitation.