W. McDougall has developed a theory of inhibition[28] which he uses
to explain the more usual kinds of irradiation. This explanation
harmonizes very well with the results of my own experiments and helps
to explain all the kinds of irradiation we have distinguished. Briefly
stated the theory of inhibition is this: there is a transference of
nervous excitation or energy through the nerves and from one neurone to
another. This living nervous energy he calls neurin. The place where
it crosses from one neurone to another he calls the synapse.
Of course these conceptions are not to be taken too literally. They
seem to be rather, if they are to be of any value at all, a convenient
way of handling certain neurological processes of which at present we
know very little, but whose grosser modes of action are comprehended
more easily by the use of such terms as "resistance," "neurin," etc. It
is in this manner that I wish to be understood in the use I have made
of Dr. McDougall's valuable contributions to the methodology of the
subject.
Neurin is generated when a stimulus is applied to the afferent nerves.
When a strong stimulus is applied, neurin is generated rapidly, and
discharges across the synapse to the efferent neurone in a series of
very rapid discharges like the multiple discharge of a Leyden jar.
When the stimulus is weak the discharges take place more slowly.
Consciousness occurs at the time of the discharges and occurs in
pulses. When these pulses occur in very rapid succession we experience
a continuous sensation, when the discharges take place at a lower rate
we are conscious of a pulsative sensation, as for instance, in the
visual phenomenon of Charpentier's bands.
Continuance of stimulation continues to produce neurin, but the
multiple discharges caused by the incoming neurin cause fatigue in
the synapses, and the neurin seeks new paths of discharge through
unfatigued synapses.
The resistance of the synapses is first lowered by the incoming neurin,
then raised again through fatigue. When the resistance is first lowered
upon application of the stimulus, the neurin which might go through
other channels of discharge is "drained off" through the synapses which
have their resistance thus lowered, then as the resistance is again
raised through fatigue, it again seeks discharge through synapses which
are unfatigued.
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