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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.
After initiation of an action potential, the refractory period is defined two ways: The absolute refractory period coincides with nearly the entire duration of the action potential. In neurons, it is caused by the inactivation of the voltage-gated sodium channels that originally opened to depolarize the membrane. These channels remain ...
The slope of phase 0 on the action potential waveform (see figure 2) represents the maximum rate of voltage change of the cardiac action potential and is known as dV/dt max. In pacemaker cells (e.g. sinoatrial node cells), however, the increase in membrane voltage is mainly due to activation of L-type calcium channels.
Afterhyperpolarization, or AHP, is the hyperpolarizing phase of a neuron's action potential where the cell's membrane potential falls below the normal resting potential. This is also commonly referred to as an action potential's undershoot phase. AHPs have been segregated into "fast", "medium", and "slow" components that appear to have distinct ...
Diagram of membrane potential changes during an action potential. Hyperpolarization is a change in a cell's membrane potential that makes it more negative. Cells typically have a negative resting potential, with neuronal action potentials depolarizing the membrane.
Voltage-gated ion channels underlie many of the electrical behaviors of the cell, including action potentials, resting membrane potentials, and synaptic transmission. [9] Voltage-gated ion channels are often specific to ions, including Na +, K +, Ca 2+, and Cl −. Each of these ions plays an important role in the electrical behavior of the ...
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).
Rheobase is a measure of membrane potential excitability. In neuroscience, rheobase is the minimal current amplitude of infinite duration that results in the depolarization threshold of the cell membranes being reached, such as an action potential or the contraction of a muscle. [1]