Internal calcium changes in a bursting pacemaker neuron measured with arsenazo III.

Arsenazo III was used to measure changes in the free intracellular calcium concentration during spontaneous bursting pacemaker activity in the Aplysia R1K neuron. Intracellular calcium increased during the burst, and this increase was sufficient to cause the hyperpolarization that followed. The results suggest that the interval between bursts is determined by the rate of subsequent decline of free intracellular calcium.