No Evidence for saltatory conduction in peripheral myelinated nerve fibers -- an analytical review of the historical experiment of A. F. Huxley 1949

The 1949 experiment on saltatory conduction of myelinated nerve fiber has become an icon of electrophysiology. Since then, hardly anyone has dared to undertake a critical review, and one can assume that hardly anyone in today’s generation of researchers has read this historic work of A. F. Huxley. The dogma behind this historic experiment is the thesis that the Schwann cell is not excitable. The experiment was intended to demonstrate that conduction is possible without Schwann cell excitation. One could dismiss this topic as a marginal issue in the neurophysiology of peripheral nerves, were it not for this dogma, which also applies to the oligodendrocytes of the central nervous system. The question of whether oligodendrocytes are excitable or not has a medical dimension of primary importance. We know that Schwann cells in culture express Na+ and K+ ion channels (Chiu, 1984, Schrager, 1985) and that oligodendrocytes, as well as astrocytes, in culture perform rhythmic movements (Bucher, 1968) that indicate spontaneous membrane excitation. Therefore, there are legitimate doubts as to whether this dogma can still be maintained. In this review of the 1949 study, we can show that documented irregularities in the experimental setup—even one that was modified—made it impossible to measure the expected ”saltatory” electrical currents. However, the influences measured were those in direct contact between the electrode and the Schwann cell. In conclusion, not only has saltatory conduction been falsified, but it has also been proven that the Schwann cell is excitable (Herzberg, 2025). Supplementary Material File (manuscript,noevidenceforsaltatoryconductioninperipheralmyelinatednervefibers13.10.2025ejn.docx) - Download - 803.99 KB Information & Authors Information Version history Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License.

Authors Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 169views 115downloads Citations Download citation Wolfgang Herzberg. No Evidence for saltatory conduction in peripheral myelinated nerve fibers -- an analytical review of the historical experiment of A. F. Huxley 1949. Authorea. 15 October 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.176050829.94175780/v1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.176050829.94175780/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.