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An action potential (also known as a nerve impulse or "spike" when in a neuron) is a series of quick changes in voltage across a cell membrane. An action potential occurs when the membrane potential of a specific cell rapidly rises and falls. [1] This depolarization then causes adjacent locations to similarly depolarize.
The rapid depolarization of the cell, during phase 0, causes the membrane potential to approach sodium's equilibrium potential (i.e. the membrane potential at which sodium is no longer drawn into or out of the cell). As the membrane potential becomes more positive, the sodium channels then close and lock, this is known as the "inactivated" state.
The channel is closed at the resting voltage level, but opens abruptly when the voltage exceeds a certain threshold, allowing a large influx of sodium ions that produces a very rapid change in the membrane potential. Recovery from an action potential is partly dependent on a type of voltage-gated potassium channel that is closed at the resting ...
In electrophysiology, the threshold potential is the critical level to which a membrane potential must be depolarized to initiate an action potential. In neuroscience , threshold potentials are necessary to regulate and propagate signaling in both the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS).
where is the membrane potential, is the intrinsic membrane potential threshold, is the membrane time constant, is the resting potential, and is the sharpness of action potential initiation, usually around 1 mV for cortical pyramidal neurons. [31]
A receptor potential can also cause the release of neurotransmitters from one cell that will act on another cell, generating an action potential in the second cell. [4] The magnitude of the receptor potential determines the frequency with which action potentials are generated and is controlled by adaptation, stimulus strength, and temporal ...
The ionic charge determines the sign of the membrane potential contribution. During an action potential, although the membrane potential changes about 100mV, the concentrations of ions inside and outside the cell do not change significantly. They are always very close to their respective concentrations when the membrane is at their resting ...
This causes the membrane potential to drop down to its resting membrane potential of -100mV. Hyperpolarization occurs because the slow-acting potassium channels take longer to deactivate, so the membrane overshoots the resting potential. It gradually returns to resting potential and is ready for another action potential to occur.