PHYS20009 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Action Potential, Axon Hillock, Resting Potential

• School: University of Melbourne
• Department: Physiology
• Course: PHYS20009
• Professor: Charles

Document Summary

* we can elicit a signal by changing the permeability of certain ions to change the rate at which they move across the membrane and therefore change the voltage of that membrane. * action potential is a wave of voltage change that will move from one end of the axon to the other end. * an action potential will go from the trigger zone of the axon (axon hillock) and move down the axon to deliver the signal to the next neuron, or gland or muscle etc. The ion is more concentrated in the icf because the equilibrium potential is negative, meaning we are trying to hold the positive ion inside the cell. There is a greater concertation of potassium inside the cell than outside the cell. If we decrease the extracellular concentration of potassium this will result in an increase in the concentration gradient of potassium.