What is a refractory period in ECG?
What is a refractory period in ECG?
In electrocardiography, during a cardiac cycle, once an action potential is initiated, there is a period of time that a new action potential cannot be initiated. This is termed the effective refractory period (ERP) of the tissue.
What is the purpose of the refractory period?
The refractory period limits the rate at which action potentials can be generated, which is an important aspect of neuronal signaling. Additionally, the refractory period facilitates unidirectional propagation of the action potential along the axon.
What occurs during the refractory period?
In physiology, a refractory period is a period of time during which an organ or cell is incapable of repeating a particular action, or (more precisely) the amount of time it takes for an excitable membrane to be ready for a second stimulus once it returns to its resting state following an excitation.
What influences refractory period?
Summary. The refractory period varies from person to person. While the refractory period tends to increase with age, other factors may influence the time a person cannot have sex again, such as their cardiovascular health.
What happens in refractory period neuron?
The refractory period of a neuron is the time in which a nerve cell is unable to fire an action potential (nerve impulse). Two subsets exist in terms of neurons: absolute refractory period and relative refractory period.
What is the significance of the refractory period in an axon?
What accounts for a long refractory period in cardiac muscle?
Muscle fiber (cell) in the ventricular tissue of the heart, specialized for conducting an action potential to the myocardium. What accounts for the long refractory period of cardiac muscle? Calcium channels are to slow to close and potassium channels are slow to open.
What causes the refractory period in the heart?
The cardiac refractory period can result in different forms of re-entry, which are a cause of tachycardia. Vortices of excitation in the myocardium (autowave vortices) are a form of re-entry. Such vortices can be a mechanism of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias.
Does Cialis reduce refractory period?
Some men wonder how they can shorten their refractory period. No drugs have been approved for this purpose, but research has shown that Viagra and Cialis – two drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction – may reduce recovery time. Women do not have refractory periods the way men do.
refractory period. the period of depolarization and repolarization of the cell membrane after excitation; during the first portion (absolute refractory period), the nerve or muscle fiber cannot respond to a second stimulus, whereas during the relative refractory period, it can respond only to a strong stimulus.