Table of Contents
What is an action potential and how is it produced?
An action potential occurs when a neuron sends information down an axon, away from the cell body. Neuroscientists use other words, such as a “spike” or an “impulse” for the action potential. The action potential is an explosion of electrical activity that is created by a depolarizing current.
What is the action potential process?
An action potential is a rapid rise and subsequent fall in voltage or membrane potential across a cellular membrane with a characteristic pattern.
What are the 6 steps of an action potential in order?
Terms in this set (6)
- Resting Membrane Potential. All voltage-gated channels are closed.
- Threshold. EPSP summate depolarizing membrane to threshold, at which point activation gates of voltage-gated sodium channels open.
- Depolarization Phase.
- Repolarization Phase.
- Undershoot.
- Sodium Potassium pumps.
What is the rising phase of an action potential?
The rising phase is a rapid depolarization followed by the overshoot, when the membrane potential becomes positive. The falling phase is a rapid repolarization followed by the undershoot, when the membrane potential hyperpolarizes past rest. Finally, the membrane potential will return to the resting membrane potential.
What is phase 4 of action potential?
Phase 4 is the spontaneous depolarization (pacemaker potential) that triggers the action potential once the membrane potential reaches threshold between -40 and -30 mV).
What happens during phase 4 of the cardiac action potential?
In these cells, phase 4 is also known as the pacemaker potential. During this phase, the membrane potential slowly becomes more positive, until it reaches a set value (around -40 mV; known as the threshold potential) or until it is depolarized by another action potential, coming from a neighboring cell.
What is cardiac cycle explain with steps?
The Cardiac Cycle. The cardiac cycle comprises all of the physiological events associated with a single heartbeat, including electrical events, mechanical events (pressures and volumes), and heart sounds. The atria and ventricles alternately contract in each cardiac cycle.