Comments, with reply, on "Point source nerve bundle stimulation: effects of fiber diameter and depth on simulated excitation" by K.W. Altman and R. Plonsey

The commenter questions some assertions made in the above-mentioned work by K.W. Altman and R. Plansey (see ibid., vol.37, p.688-98, 1990), which describes a simulation study relating the electrical excitability of nerve axons to their diameter and depth in the bundle. The commenter also points out the lack of experimental validation of their simulation work as well as their ignoring the membrane capacitance and strength/duration relationship. In their reply, the authors make clear that in the paper they evaluated a strength/diameter relationship that describes a measure of the relative propensity for activation and they examined how this relationship changes as a function of depth within the nerve bundle.<>