Joseph Erlanger

Joseph Erlanger (1874–1965) was an American physiologist who shared the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Herbert Gasser for research on nerve-fiber functions.

Herbert Gasser: Herbert Gasser was an American physiologist who shared the 1944 Nobel Prize with Joseph Erlanger for research on nerve fibers. Their collaboration linked Erlanger’s electrophysiological methods with Gasser’s studies of nerve function.
Action potential: An action potential is a rapid, temporary change in a cell membrane’s electrical potential that can propagate along excitable cells. Erlanger’s recordings measured the action potentials traveling along nerve fibers.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is an annual award recognizing discoveries in the life sciences and medicine. Erlanger and Gasser received the 1944 prize for discoveries concerning the highly differentiated functions of single nerve fibers.
Cathode-ray oscilloscope: A cathode-ray oscilloscope displays changing electrical signals as traces on a screen. Erlanger and Gasser used oscilloscopic recordings to distinguish components of nerve activity.
Walter Bradford Cannon: Walter Bradford Cannon was an American physiologist known for research on homeostasis and the fight-or-flight response. Cannon was among the influential physiologists working in the same American academic era as Erlanger.
Compound action potential: A compound action potential is the summed electrical response of multiple nerve fibers activated together. Their nerve recordings resolved the compound signal into components with different conduction speeds.
Electroneurography: Electroneurography records electrical activity in peripheral nerves to assess their function. Clinical nerve recordings build on the electrophysiological methods Erlanger helped develop.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1944: The 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Joseph Erlanger and Herbert Gasser for discoveries about nerve fibers. The award citation identifies the specific achievement that defined Erlanger’s later recognition.
Carl Ludwig: Carl Ludwig was a German physiologist who developed instruments and methods for experimental physiology. Erlanger trained in a physiological tradition shaped by Ludwig’s experimental approach.
Nerve conduction velocity: Nerve conduction velocity is the speed at which an electrical impulse travels along a nerve. Erlanger and Gasser used conduction speed to distinguish groups of nerve fibers.

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Herbert Spencer GasserRelated: Their collaboration linked nerve-fiber physiology to the Nobel-winning work.