What is the overshoot and undershoot of the action potential?
What is the overshoot and undershoot of the action potential?
The overshoot is the peak of the action potential where the membrane potential is positive. The falling phase repolarizes the membrane potential, and the undershoot takes the membrane potential more negative than the resting membrane potential. After the undershoot, the membrane potential returns to rest.
What causes the threshold potential of an action potential?
These changes cause ion channels to open and the ions to decrease their concentration gradients. The value of threshold potential depends on the membrane permeability, intra- and extracellular concentration of ions, and the properties of the cell membrane. An action potential has three phases: depolarization, overshoot, repolarization.
What are the phases of action potential in an action potential?
An action potential has several phases; hypopolarization, depolarization, overshoot, repolarization and hyperpolarization. Hypopolarization is the initial increase of the membrane potential to the value of the threshold potential. The threshold potential opens voltage-gated sodium channels and causes a large influx of sodium ions.
How long does it take for an action potential to kick in?
All of this takes place within approximately 2 milliseconds ([link]). While an action potential is in progress, another one cannot be initiated. That effect is referred to as the refractory period. There are two phases of the refractory period: the absolute refractory period and the relative refractory period.
How does action potential begin at the axon hillock?
An action potential begins at the axon hillock as a result of depolarisation. During depolarisation voltage-gated sodium ion channels open due to an electrical stimulus. As the sodium ions rush back into the cell their positive charge, pushes potential inside the cell from negative to more positive.
How does the action potential behave upon the all or none law?
It is important to know that the action potential behaves upon the all-or-none law. This means that any subthreshold stimulus will cause nothing, while threshold and suprathreshold stimuli produce a full response of the excitable cell.
