Herbert Spencer Gasser

Herbert Spencer Gasser (1888–1963) was an American physiologist who shared the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Joseph Erlanger for research on the functions of nerve fibers.

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Joseph Erlanger: An American physiologist who shared the 1944 Nobel Prize with Gasser for research on nerve fibers. Their collaboration linked nerve-fiber physiology to the Nobel-winning work.
Action potential: A rapid, temporary change in a cell’s electrical membrane potential that can propagate along excitable cells. Gasser and Erlanger studied the action potentials traveling through nerve fibers.
Electroneurography: The recording of electrical activity in peripheral nerves, often by surface electrodes. It applies principles established by recording and distinguishing nerve-fiber responses.
1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: The Nobel award shared by Joseph Erlanger and Herbert Spencer Gasser for discoveries relating to the highly differentiated functions of single nerve fibers. The prize recognized the central achievement of Gasser’s collaboration with Erlanger.
Walter B. Cannon: An American physiologist known for research on homeostasis and the sympathetic nervous system. Cannon led Harvard’s physiology department while Gasser studied there.
Nerve conduction velocity: The speed at which an electrical signal travels along a nerve fiber. Their recordings showed that conduction speed differs among nerve fibers.
Nerve conduction study: A clinical test that measures the speed and strength of electrical signals in peripheral nerves. The test uses conduction measurements that Gasser’s research helped establish.
Nerve fiber classification: The grouping of nerve fibers by features such as diameter, myelination, conduction speed, and function. Their findings supported distinctions among fibers based on measurable electrical properties.
William Henry Howell: An American physiologist and pharmacologist who chaired physiology at Johns Hopkins University. Howell chaired the department where Gasser completed his medical training.
Compound action potential: An extracellular voltage signal formed by the summed activity of multiple nerve fibers. Their nerve recordings contained overlapping signals from fibers with different conduction speeds.