PS263 Lecture Notes - Resting Potential, Axon Hillock, Axon Terminal
Document Summary
Membrane potential: the difference in electrical charge between the inside and the outside of the cell. Recording m. p: position the tip of one electrode inside the neuron & the tip of another outside the extracellular fluid. Microelectrodes: (intracellular) their tips are less than one-thousandth of a mm in diameter much to small to be seen with the naked eye. Resting potential: the steady membrane potential of about -70mv with this charge built up across its membrane, a neuron is said to be polarized. Ion basis: the salts in neural tissue separate into + and charged particles called ions resting potential results from the fact that the ratio of negative to positive charges is greater inside the neuron then outside. Random motion: (homogenizing) ions in normal tissue are in constant random motion, particles in random motion tend to become evenly distributed because they are more likely to move down their c. g than up.
