Action Potentials: A Virtual Introduction
 Before you can move you
hand away from a flame, your
brain or spine first need to
receive a signal from your
hand. Sensory stimuli, like the
feeling of burning your hand
on a flame, are converted into
electrical signals.
 These electrical signals are
then carried along neurons to
the brain and are called nerve
impulses or action potentials.
The brain can then send a
signal back to you hand so
that you can more you hand
away.
 Not all cells are able to
transmit information using
action potentials. Those that
can are excitatory cells. These
cells include neurons and
muscle cells.
 Hormones are chemical
messengers that instruct cells
or tissue to act in a certain
way. They diffuse through the
body slowly and evenly in all
directions over minutes to
hours.
 In contrast, action potentials
travel in one direction. Action
potentials allow information to
travel long distance through
the body (>1 meter) very
quickly (~120 meters per
second)
 That means that action
potentials can travel faster
that a cheetah can run or a
peregrine falcon can dive!

 Neurons are the core cells of
the brain, spinal cord, and
peripheral nerves (nerves
outside the brain and spinal
cord) and have a
characteristics shape that
distinguishes them from other
cells.
 Neurons have a cell body
(containing the nucleus),
dendrites, and an axon.
 The axon carries information
from the cell body to the
synaptic terminals. The region
where the cell body meet the
axon is called axon hillock.
The axon splits into smaller
branches (called dendrites)
and these end at the synaptic
terminals.
 All cells in human body
(including neurons) maintain a
small electrical difference
between the interior and
exterior of the cell. The inside is
negatively changed
compared to the outside.
 This electrical change
difference is maintained by
positively and negatively
charged ions moving in and
out of the cell.
 We can think of these charges
on either side of the cell
membrane like a battery. A
car battery, for example, can
be used to start a car.
 If you attach a voltmeter to
the two terminals of a car
battery, you will notice a
difference across the two
terminals (around 12 V
 Similarly, if you measure the
voltage across the cell
 membrane of an entire
neuron, you will notice a
difference across the
membrane (-70 millivolts (mV))

 This is called the membrane

potential and is around -70 mV
(millivolts) when the neuron is
at rest (resting membrane
potential), The negative sign
means that the inside of the
cell is more negatively change
than the outside,
 Even though neurons are close
 Just like stored energy in a together, they do not touch
battery can be used to do each other. How do you think
work (like start a car), the these cells communicate?
stored energy of a membrane
potential can be used to do  Chemical messengers, called
work in a cell, like sending an neurotransmitters, transmit
electrical signal to another signals across the synapse into
neuron, the dendrites of another
neuron. The synapse is a
 The electrical signal from one space between two neurons.
neuron can stimulate the next
neuron in the relay. The signal
continues to be passed from
one excitatory cell to another
until it reaches the final
destination.
 One such chemical on the size and duration of the
messenger is glutamate, which input into the cell.
plays a part in learning and
memory.  Graded potentials do not
travel into the axon but can
 Neurotransmitters are released cause an action potential to
from the cell before the be triggered at the axon
synapse (pre-synaptic cell) hillock.
and bind to channels on the
dendrite of the cells after the
synapse (post-synaptic-cell).
This typically causes an influx
of ions into the post-synaptic
cell, which can cause an
electrical signal to travel down
the cell.

 Neurotransmitters are the input

that stimulates the next neuron.

 The influx of ions after a

neurotransmitter binds the ion
channel can slightly increase
or decrease the local resting
membrane potential (-70 mV)
for a brief time before
returning to the resting
membrane potential.
 An action potential happens
when the combined effect of
several graded potentials shift
the membrane potential
across the threshold potential.
The threshold potential of most
neurons is around -55 mV.

 The small changes in the

membrane potential are
known as graded potentials.
They occur in the dendrites
and cell body of a neuron.

 Graded potentials can vary in

size and duration depending
 called a hyperpolarization or
inhibitory potential.

 A graded potential that shifts

membrane potential to
become more positive (to a
less negative number) is called
a depolarization or an  Graded potentials decay with
excitatory potential. time and distance, which
makes their effect on the
membrane potential brief and
local.

 A graded potential that shifts

the membrane potential to a
more negative number is
 The adding together of
graded potentials is called
summation. Summation at the
axon hillock is how neurons
integrate information from
several different liquids.

 If graded potentials fire in

quick succession, they either
amplify or cancel one another.
If delays between graded
potentials are large, they
don’t affect each other.
Temporal summation is the
adding of graded potentials
 You can think of the threshold
over time.
potential as a gatekeeper that
decides whether or not to
 If graded potentials fire close
send a signal down the axon.
together in the cell, they either
amplify or cancel one another.
 If the graded potential doesn’t
If the spaces between graded
reach this threshold, an action
potentials are large, they
potential will not occur, even if
don’t affect each other.
the graded potential gets very
Spatial summation is the
close to the threshold, Action
adding of graded potentials in
potentials are all-or- nothing
space.
events.

 If there are enough positive

 Neurons are able to fire action
graded potential in a short
potentials multiple times every
amount of time, they will cause
second.
the membrane potential to go
over the threshold potential
and an action potential will
occur.
 neuron can convey a stronger
signal by firing more frequent
action potentials.

 It doesn’t matter how far over

the threshold the graded
potential goes, the action
potential will always happen in
the same way.

 Action potentials do not

change in shape or size. A