THE EFFECTS OF DRUGS ON 

 NERVE ACTIVITY 



By Alfred Oilman* 



Pharmacology Section, Medical Division, Chemical Warfare Service, Edgewood 



Arsenal, Maryland 



I cannot help but feel somewhat apologetic for having consented to 

 contribute to this symposium. Indeed, as the date for this conference 

 approached, it became more and more apparent that I had become in- 

 volved in an extremely paradoxical situation. On first thought, it 

 would seem reasonable to request a pharmacologist to discuss the sub- 

 ject of the effects of drugs on nerve activity. However, a moment's 

 reflection, which unfortunately, from my point of view, was too long 

 delayed, results in the irrefutable conclusion that it is the neuro- 

 physiologist who should be addressing the pharmacologists on this 

 subject. 



Although the pharmacologist has, as his ultimate objective, the 

 elucidation of the fundamental mechanism of action of drugs on cells, 

 he is continually frustrated by the limitations of his own technics. The 

 very nature of the subject of pharmacology, which borders on' so many 

 medical disciplines, almost precludes the possibility of the investigator 

 in this field engaging in the basic research which is essential for the 

 reaching of his objective, except, possibly, in a chosen, limited field. 

 It is from the neurophysiologist, therefore, that the answer to many of 

 the basic problems of the actions of drugs on the nervous system can 

 be expected. 



If one wishes to indulge in oversimplification, the entire subject of the 

 effects of drugs on nerve activity can be summarized in a few moments 

 or even in a single sentence. There is no phase of nerve activity which 

 cannot be profoundly affected by drugs. Effector cells can be com- 

 pletely released from nervous control or, conversely, the effects of nerve 

 impulses can be faithfully mimicked; conduction in nerve fibers can be 

 completely blocked; synaptic transmission can be interrupted or en- 

 hanced ; cord transection can be simulated ; selected centers in the brain 

 can be stimulated or depressed. It only remains to name the drugs 

 associated with these actions. 



Any further amplification would result in a textbook discussion, 

 in which, in a more or less orderly fashion, the actions of drugs could 



• Major, Sn-C, A. U. S. 



(549) 



