29/7/2020 PhysioEx Exercise 3 Activity 3

PhysioEx Lab Report

Exercise 3: Neurophysiology of Nerve Impulses
Activity 3: The Action Potential: Threshold
Name: cristian requejo mezones
Date: 29 July 2020
Session ID: session-02ec31f4-41d7-20dc-8d17-be8e229dd075

Pre-lab Quiz Results

You scored 100% by answering 4 out of 4 questions correctly.

1 Axons are

You correctly answered: long, thin structures that extend from a neuronal cell body.

2 Which of the following is easier?

You correctly answered: Extracellular recordings of the action potential.

3 An action potential is usually initiated in an axon at or near

You correctly answered: all of the above.

4 The initiation of an action potential in a sensory neuron in the body normally

You correctly answered: follows a sufficiently large depolarizing receptor potential.

Experiment Results
Predict Question
1 Predict Question: How will the action potential at R1 (or R2) change as you continue to
increase the stimulus voltage?

Your answer: The peak value of the action potential will increase.

Stop & Think Questions

1 Why is the action potential recorded by the second recording electrode (R2) delayed
relative to the action potential recorded by the first recording electrode (R1)?

You correctly answered: The action potential had to propagate from R1 to R2.

2 An increase in extracellular K+ would depolarize a neuron. This depolarization would

occur if neurons were damaged. From what you have just learned about generating an
action potential, what effect would this have on nearby axons? The nearby axonal
membranes will _______.

You correctly answered: be depolarized to values near or above threshold voltages.

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Experiment Data
Stimulus Voltage Peak Value at R1 Peak Value at R2 Action Potential
(mv) (μV) (μV)
10 0 0 No
20 100 100 Yes
30 100 100 Yes
40 100 100 Yes
50 100 100 Yes

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Post-lab Quiz Results

You scored 100% by answering 3 out of 3 questions correctly.

1 The threshold voltage in an axon is usually

You correctly answered: less negative than the resting membrane potential.
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2 If a graded receptor potential made the resting membrane potential of the axon more
negative (for example, -70 mV changes to -75 mV), you would expect

You correctly answered: it to be more difficult for this axon to reach the threshold
voltage.

3 Failure to reach the threshold voltage in the axon of a sensory neuron could be caused by

You correctly answered: all of the above.

Review Sheet Results

1 Define the term threshold as it applies to an action potential.

Your answer:

El Umbral de excitabilidad es la condición que debe presentar un estímulo para poder

alcanzar el impulso nervioso o potencial de acción.

2 What change in membrane potential (depolarization or hyperpolarization) triggers an

action potential?

Your answer:

La hiperpolarización es cuando el potencial de membrana se vuelve más negativo en un

punto particular en la membrana de la neurona, mientras que la despolarización es
cuando el potencial de membrana se vuelve menos negativo (más positivo). La
despolarización e hiperpolarización ocurren cuando los canales iónicos de la membrana
se abren o cierran, lo cual altera la capacidad de determinado tipo de iones para entrar o
salir de la célula.

3 How did the action potential at R1 (or R2) change as you increased the stimulus voltage
above the threshold voltage? How well did the results compare with your prediction?

Your answer:

La hiperpolarización es cuando el potencial de membrana se vuelve más negativo en un

punto particular en la membrana de la neurona, mientras que la despolarización es
cuando el potencial de membrana se vuelve menos negativo (más positivo). La
despolarización e hiperpolarización ocurren cuando los canales iónicos de la membrana
se abren o cierran, lo cual altera la capacidad de determinado tipo de iones para entrar o
salir de la célula.

4 An action potential is an "all-or-nothing" event. Explain what is meant by this phrase

Your answer:

El potencial de acción cuenta con la particularidad de seguir la llamada ley del todo o
nada. Es decir, o se produce o no se produce, no existiendo posibilidades intermedias.

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Pese a ello, que aparezca o no el potencial puede verse influido por la existencia de
potenciales excitatorios o inhibitorios que lo facilitan o dificultan.

5 What part of a neuron was investigated in this activity?

Your answer:

se investigo y se realizaron todas las pruebas en el axon.

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