Giant axon
Giant axons are the axons found in squids ( squids ). They are usually 100 to 1000 times thicker than in mammals and can reach a diameter of up to 1 mm. This enormous thickness of the axons is necessary for squid to enable rapid conduction of excitation , since, unlike vertebrates, they do not have myelinated axons . Due to the larger axon cross-section, the longitudinal resistance (internal resistance) of the axon is lower, so that the electrotonic current flow from the excited to the unexcited fiber area can take place more quickly.
The discovery of the giant axons led to great advances in nerve cell research . Alan Lloyd Hodgkin , Sir John Eccles and Andrew Huxley received in 1963 the Nobel Prize for neuro-physiological work on Riesenaxonen squid ( Hodgkin-Huxley model ) that are particularly well for because of their size electrophysiological own work.