How did Luigi Galvani’s work help establish the study of electrophysiology?

Luigi Galvani’s investigations into the effects of electricity on animal tissue were foundational to the field of electrophysiology.1

Beginning in the late 1770s, Galvani experimented with muscular stimulation using electrostatic machines and Leyden jars. His research demonstrated that electrical stimuli could cause muscular contractions in frogs, leading him to propose the existence of an innate "animal electricity" that acted as a vital force within living organisms.1

While his theory of an internal electric fluid was later refined, his experimental rigor was transformative. Notably, he eventually demonstrated muscular contraction without the use of external metals by touching a nerve of one frog to the muscle of another, providing the first evidence of bioelectric forces within living tissue. This work not only opened new avenues for studying the physiology of nerves and muscles but also served as the primary stimulus for Alessandro Volta to develop the voltaic pile, which provided the first constant source of current electricity.1