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 …

Jun 17, 2025 · An action potential is an electrical nerve impulse that travels along a neuron's axon. It's a transient, all-or-nothing electrical current that is conducted down the axon when …

Nov 3, 2023 · Only neurons and muscle cells are capable of generating an action potential; that property is called the excitability. Action potentials are nerve signals. Neurons generate and …

Dec 18, 2025 · Action potential, the brief (about one-thousandth of a second) reversal of electric polarization of the membrane of a nerve cell (neuron) or muscle cell. In the neuron an action …

Jul 29, 2025 · Neurons are the fundamental units of the nervous system, specialized cells for communication. These cells transmit information through rapid, temporary shifts in their …

The action potential is initiated at the beginning of the axon, at what is called the initial segment (trigger zone). Rapid depolarization can take place here due to a high density of voltage-gated …

When the neurone is inactive the transmembrane potential is called the resting potential (nominally -70mV). When the nerve becomes active, it sends trains of short electrical pulses, …

Action potentials serve to encode and transmit information between neurons and initiate cellular events such as muscle contraction. In neurophysiology, they enable rapid and long-distance …

Transmission of a signal within a neuron (from dendrite to axon terminal) is carried by a brief reversal of the resting membrane potential called an action potential. When neurotransmitter …

The action potential is triggered when graded potentials (from a receptor or from dendrites) accumulate and the membrane reaches a trigger level, and a sudden cascade of channel …