Action Potentials definitions Flashcards

A rapid rise and fall in membrane potential across a neuron's axon, crucial for nerve signal transmission.

The stable, negative charge of a neuron at rest, typically around -70 millivolts.

The process where a neuron's membrane potential becomes more positive, moving towards zero.

The critical level of membrane depolarization, around -55 millivolts, needed to trigger an action potential.

Protein channels that open in response to membrane depolarization, allowing sodium ions to enter the neuron.

Protein channels that open during depolarization, allowing potassium ions to exit the neuron, aiding repolarization.

The process of returning the membrane potential to a negative value after depolarization.

A state where the membrane potential becomes more negative than the resting potential.

A cellular mechanism that restores resting potential by moving sodium out and potassium into the neuron.

The combined effect of an ion's concentration gradient and electrical charge across a membrane.

Small changes in membrane potential that can initiate an action potential if they reach threshold.

Postsynaptic potentials that make a neuron more likely to fire an action potential.

The voltage difference across a cell's plasma membrane, crucial for action potential generation.

Proteins that allow specific ions to pass through the membrane, essential for action potential dynamics.

Nerve cells that transmit information via electrical and chemical signals, fundamental to the nervous system.