It is well known that under constant stimulation an end organ, such as a muscle spindle or tactile receptor, fails to respond to the stimulation after a period of time. This phenomenon-called adaptation-has been studied by many investigators, but no specific mechanisms for the process were suggested until that of Hoagland ('34). Based on direct studies of action potentials in single nerve fibers supplying single tactile receptors in frog's skin (Adrian, Cattell and Hoagland, '31 ; Cattell and Hoagland, '31 ; Hoagland, '33), and on a variety of other evidence, he suggested the following hypothesis: On mechanical stimulation of the skin the free nerve endings in the epidermis, which constitute the tactile receptors, are excited t o set up impulses over the cutaneous nerve fibers. At the same time, however, potassium is expressed from the epithelial cells which are in close proximity to the free endings. This T< accumulates around the endings and thus reduces their responsiveness by decreasing the excitability determining ratio of I< within and without the nerve fibers, KJK,,, by augmenting KO. (For a complete review of the evidence for this hypothesis, compare Hoagland, '35 a, '36 b.) According to this notion adaptation is not a property of the sense organ (in this case free nerve endings), but rather a function of its epithelial environment. This hypothesis has been substantiated by recent work (Hoagland, '35 b, '36 a ; Hoagland and Rubin, '36 ; Rubin, '36).
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