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Resistivity, Axial

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Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience

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Synonyms

Cytoplasmic resistivity; Intracellular resistivity; R i (units: Ω cm); Specific intracellular (or cytoplasmic) resistance

Definition

The axial resistivity, R i , is a measure of the Ohmic resistance of the intracellular medium of a neuronal process (e.g., axon or dendrite). R i is defined as the resistance of the medium contained within a fixed-radius cylinder of unit length and unit cross-sectional area, measured between the flat ends of the cylinder. The most commonly used units are Ω cm, in which case the dimensions of the cylinder are in cm. For neurons, R i is typically on the order of 100 Ω cm.

Detailed Description

Explanation of the Units

R i is a specific property of the intracellular medium that should not depend on the dimensions of the cylinder across which it is measured. If the length of the unit cylinder is increased to length L cm, then the total resistance, R T , measured from one end of the cylinder to the other increases to R i L, because current needs to...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Prof. John Bekkers

Authors
  1. Prof. John Bekkers
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Correspondence to John Bekkers .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Ranu Jung

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Bekkers, J. (2014). Resistivity, Axial. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_35-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_35-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7320-6

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