Action Potential Definition

ăkshən
noun
A momentary change in electrical potential on the surface of a cell, especially of a nerve or muscle cell, that occurs when it is stimulated, resulting in the transmission of an electrical impulse.
American Heritage Medicine

A short term change in the electrical potential that travels along a cell such as a nerve or muscle fiber.

Wiktionary
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other
A momentary change in electrical potential on the surface of a neuron or muscle cell. Nerve impulses are action potentials. They either stimulate a change in polarity in another neuron or cause a muscle cell to contract.
American Heritage Science
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Other Word Forms of Action Potential

Noun

Singular:
action potential
Plural:
action-potentials

Action Potential Sentence Examples

  • Hodes [52] found a decrement of the compound muscle action potential amplitude on repetitive stimulation in patients with previous paralytic polio.

  • The arrival of an action potential in the interior of the cardiac muscle cell causes the release of calcium ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum.

  • When an action potential reaches the synapse these channels open, causing calcium ions to flow into the cell.

  • The action potential can therefore jump large distances from node to node (1mm), a process that is called saltatory propagation.

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