Do Action Potentials Regulate Myelination?

A variety of anatomical features suggest that functional activity in the nervous system can influence the process of myelination, yet direct evidence of this is lacking. Research by Zalc and colleagues shows that myelination of optic nerve is inhibited by a neurotoxin that blocks action potential activity and is stimulated by a toxin that increases impulse activity, suggesting that impulse activity is necessary for initiating myelination during development of the optic nerve. Research by Fields and colleagues, using electrical stimulation of axons, shows that low frequency impulse activity inhibits myelination of dorsal root ganglion neurons, but high frequency impulse activity has no effect. This results from reduced expression of a cell adhesion molecule on the stimulated axons that is critical for inducing myelination. Together these studies support the conclusion that impulse activity can influence the process of myelination, probably through more than one molecular mechanism operating during discrete steps in the myelination process.