Apparatus is provided including an assembly (22) and a control unit (36).
The assembly (22) includes a housing (34) configured to be applied to a
nerve (20) of a subject, and at least one cathode (30) and at least one
Peltier cooler (32), which are fixed to the housing (34). The control
unit (36) is configured to drive the cathode (30) to apply an activating
current to the nerve (20) that generates action potentials traveling in
first and second directions (38 and 40) in the nerve (20), and the
Peltier cooler (32) to cool the nerve (20) sufficiently to block
propagation of at least a portion of the cathode-generated action
potentials traveling in the second direction (40). Other embodiments are
also described.