Electrogenic sodium pump and high specific resistance in nerve cell bodies of the squid.

An electrogenic sodium pump contributes to the membrane potential in squid nerve cell bodies, imparting a temperature dependence to the resting potential that is abolished by strophanthidin. The existence of a potential produced by the pump in the soma but not the axon is correlated with a higher membrane resistance in the soma. Thus, membranes from different parts of a neuron may have functionally significant differences in resistance.