Action potential

The action potential, also referred to as a nerve impulse, is the electrical potential difference
across the plasma membrane. Neurons generate and conduct these signals along their
processes in order to transmit them to the target tissues. Upon stimulation, they will either be
stimulated, inhibited, or modulated in some way. In action potential potassium and sodium
ions are involved. The sodium-potassium pump and channels transport ions in and out of the
cell. The reaction of a neuron or muscle cell might vary depending on how often and for how
long an action potential is produced. Each action potential (impulse) results from a rapid
increase and decrease in voltage across the cellular membrane. A specific voltage change
caused by an action potential requires an influx of positive ions (threshold value). It happens
following a particular amount of positive electrical charge increase and internal cell
membrane depolarization.

Chemical Synapses
Small chemicals called neurotransmitters have the potential to activate ion channels in
postsynaptic cells. Neurotransmitters are released into the synaptic cleft in response to
action potentials reaching the synaptic knobs. The initiation of action potential causes the
presynaptic membrane to open voltage-sensitive calcium channels. Neurotransmitter-filled
vesicles move to the cell’s surface due to the calcium influx, where they discharge their
components into the synaptic cleft.

Electrical Synapses
Because neurotransmitters do not need to diffuse slowly across the synaptic cleft, electrical
synapses enable faster communication. Electrical synapses are therefore used whenever
quick reaction and timing synchronization are essential, such as in the heart, vertebrate
retina, and the escape reflexes. By eliminating the neurotransmitter’s “middleman,”
electrical synapses connect the postsynaptic and presynaptic cells
Steps of action potential
Concentration gradients are key behind how action potentials work. In terms of action
potentials, a concentration gradient is the difference in ion concentrations between the
inside of the neuron and the outside of the neuron (called extracellular fluid). If we have a
higher concentration of positively charged ions outside the cell compared to the inside of the
cell, there would be a large concentration gradient. The same would also be true if there were
more of one type of charged ion inside the cell than outside. The charge of the ion does not
matter, both positively and negatively charged ions move in the direction that would balance
or even out the gradient.

Resting membrane potential

Neurons have a negative concentration gradient most of the time, meaning there are more
positively charged ions outside than inside the cell. This regular state of a negative
concentration gradient is called resting membrane potential. During the resting membrane
potential there are:

• more sodium ions outside than inside the neuron

• more potassium ions inside than outside the neuron
The concentration of ions isn’t static though! Ions are flowing in and out of the neuron
constantly as the ions try to equalize their concentrations. The cell however maintains a
fairly consistent negative concentration gradient (between -40 to -90 millivolts).

• The neuron cell membrane is super permeable to potassium ions, and so lots of
potassium leaks out of the neuron through potassium leakage channels (holes in the
cell wall).
• The neuron cell membrane is partially permeable to sodium ions, so sodium atoms
slowly leak into the neuron through sodium leakage channels.
• The cell wants to maintain a negative resting membrane potential, so it has a pump
that pumps potassium back into the cell and pumps sodium out of the cell at the same
time
 Action potentials (those electrical impulses that send signals around your body) are
nothing more than a temporary shift (from negative to positive) in the neuron’s
membrane potential caused by ions suddenly flowing in and out of the neuron. During
the resting state (before an action potential occurs) all of the gated sodium and potassium
channels are closed. These gated channels are different from the leakage channels, and
only open once an action potential has been triggered. We say these channels are
“voltage-gated” because they are open and closed depends on the voltage difference
across the cell membrane.

There are three main events that take place during an action potential:
1. Before stimulation, a neuron or muscle cell has a slightly negative electric
polarization; that is, its interior has a negative charge compared with the extracellular
fluid. This polarized state is created by a high concentration of positively
charged sodium ions outside the cell and a high concentration of negatively charged
ions (as well as a lower concentration of positively charged potassium) inside. The
resulting resting potential usually measures about −75 millivolts (mV), or
−0.075 volt, the minus sign indicating a negative charge inside. In the generation of
the action potential, stimulation of the cell by neurotransmitters or by sensory
receptor cells partially opens channel-shaped protein molecules in the
membrane. Sodium diffuses into the cell, shifting that part of the membrane toward a
less-negative polarization. A triggering event occurs that depolarizes the cell body.
This signal comes from other cells connecting to the neuron, and it causes positively
charged ions to flow into the cell body. Positive ions still flow into the cell to
depolarize it, but these ions pass through channels that open when a specific
chemical, known as a neurotransmitter, binds to the channel and tells it to open.
Neurotransmitters are released by cells near the dendrites, often as the end result of
their own action potential! These incoming ions bring the membrane potential closer
to 0, which is known as depolarization. An object is polar if there is some difference
between more negative and more positive areas. As positive ions flow into the
 negative cell, that difference, and thus the cell’s polarity, decrease. If the cell body gets
positive enough that it can trigger the voltage-gated sodium channels found in the
axon, then the action potential will be sent. Depolarization - makes the cell less polar
(membrane potential gets smaller as ions quickly begin to equalize the concentration
gradients). Voltage-gated sodium channels at the part of the axon closest to the cell body
activate, thanks to the recently depolarized cell body. This lets positively charged sodium ions
flow into the negatively charged axon, and depolarize the surrounding axon. We can think of
the channels opening like dominoes falling down - once one channel opens and lets positive
ions in, it sets the stage for the channels down the axon to do the same thing. Though this
stage is known as depolarization, the neuron actually swings past equilibrium and becomes
positively charged as the action potential passes through! If this local potential reaches
a critical state called the threshold potential (measuring about −55 mV), then sodium
channels open completely. Sodium floods that part of the cell, which instantly depolarizes to
an action potential of about +55 mV. Depolarization activates sodium channels
in adjacent parts of the membrane, so that the impulse moves along the fiber.

2. Overshoot or Peak Phase: As the cell depolarizes, the inside of the cell becomes
increasingly electropositive, approaching the electrochemical equilibrium potential
of sodium, which is +10 to +40 mV. This phase of intense electro positivity is the peak
phase or overshoot phase.

3. Repolarization - brings the cell back to resting potential. The inactivation gates of the
sodium channels close, stopping the inward rush of positive ions. At the same time,
the potassium channels open. There is much more potassium inside the cell than out,
so when these channels open, more potassium exits than comes in. This means the
cell loses positively charged ions, and returns back toward its resting state.

4. Hyperpolarization - makes the cell more negative than its typical resting membrane
potential. As the action potential passes through, potassium channels stay open a little
bit longer, and continue to let positive ions exit the neuron. This means that the cell
temporarily hyperpolarizes, or gets even more negative than its resting state. As the
 potassium channels close, the sodium-potassium pump works to reestablish the
resting state.

What is Reflex Action?

Reflex action is a sudden and involuntary response to stimuli. It helps organisms to quickly
adapt to an adverse circumstance that could have the potential to cause bodily harm or even
death. Pulling our hands away immediately after touching a hot or cold object is a classic
example of a reflex action.

What is a Reflex Arc?

A reflex arc is a pathway that controls a reflex. The nerve pathway followed by a reflex action
is called a reflex arc. For example, a simple reflex arc happens if we accidentally touch
something hot.

Reflex actions

There are three main types of neurons: sensory, motor and relay.

These different types of neurons work together in a reflex action. A reflex action is an
automatic (involuntary) and rapid response to a stimulus, which minimizes any damage to
the body from potentially harmful conditions, such as touching something hot. Reflex actions
are therefore essential to the survival of many organisms.

A reflex action follows this general sequence and does not involve the conscious part of the

brain. This is why the response is so fast.

 1. Receptor in the skin detects a stimulus (the change in temperature).

2. Sensory neuron sends electrical impulses to a relay neuron, which is located in

the spinal cord of the CNS. Relay neurons connect sensory neurons to motor
neurons.

3. Motor neuron sends electrical impulses to an effector.

4. Effector produces a response (muscle contracts to move hand away).

Anatomy and Physiology of the Spine

Your spine, or spinal column, supports your body so you can stand, walk, and sit. It's also
designed to move in certain ways, so you can twist and bend. It's both strong and easy to
injure, especially as we age.

But the spine is more than the bones — or vertebrae — we often talk about. It's a complex
structure of bones, nerves, disks, and spinal fluid that protects the delicate nerve tissue of
the spinal cord.

What Is the Spine?

When we hear the word "spine," we usually think "backbone." Although your spine gives
your back structure and flexibility, it isn't a single bone.

More than two dozen bones stacked on top of each other form the spine. The “atlas" is the
bone closest to your head because it carries the weight of the skull.

Doctors group the bones of the spine according to where they're located. Top to bottom, you
have 33 vertebrae:

• 7 neck bones (C, for cervical).

• 12 chest-level bones (T, for thoracic).
• 5 lower back bones (L, for lumbar).
• 5 fused bones that form the sacrum (S).
• 4 fused bones that make up the tailbone (coccyx).

What is the spinal cord?

Your spinal cord isn't just one nerve. Rather, it's many nerves that run from the base of
the brain to the small of the back. This is a key way your brain communicates with the rest
of your body.

Your spinal cord runs within the spinal canal. In this way, it's like a highway for signals to
travel to and from your brain and all over your body. Though it has a big job, your spinal cord
is thinner than you might think—about a half-inch thick.

What do spinal nerves do?

Spinal nerves exit from the spinal cord to send and receive signals from muscles, skin, and
other organs. The nerves are able to leave the bony canal through passageways, called
foramen, between the vertebrae.

Depending on which segment of the spinal cord the nerves exit from, they control different
functions in your body:

• Nerves exiting near the neck and upper back send and receive signals from the arms.
• Nerves exiting near the chest area are in charge of internal organs.
 • Nerves exiting at the lower back control the legs and the genital area.

This is why, if someone has a spinal cord injury, it matters how high up on the spinal cord
the injury happens.

Interestingly, the spinal cord and the spinal canal are about the same length before birth. But
the spinal cord stops growing earlier than the spinal canal that covers it. For most people,
the spinal cord stops growing around age 5.

In an adult, the spinal cord ends around the small of the back, an area known as the second
lumbar vertebrae. The rest of the spinal canal only has spinal nerves, and not the spinal cord
itself.

Function Of Spinal Cord

Important functions of Spinal Cord are mentioned below:

• Forms a connecting link between the brain and the PNS

• Provides structural support and builds a body posture

• Facilitates flexible movements

• Myelin present in the white matter acts as an electrical insulation

• Communicates messages from the brain to different parts of the body

• Coordinates reflexes

• Receives sensory information from receptors and approaches towards the brain for
processing.

Spinal cord anatomy

spinal cord, major nerve tract of vertebrates, extending from the base of the brain through
the canal of the spinal column. It is composed of nerve fibers that mediate reflex actions and
that transmit impulses to and from the brain.
 • Like the brain, the spinal cord is covered by three connective-tissue envelopes called
the meninges. The space between the outer and middle envelopes is filled
with cerebrospinal fluid, a clear, colorless fluid that cushions the spinal cord.

A cross section of the spinal cord reveals white matter arranged around a butterfly-shaped
area of gray matter. The white matter consists of myelinated fibers, or axons, that form nerve
tracts ascending to and descending from the brain. The white matter is grouped into discrete
sectors called funiculi. The gray matter contains cell bodies, unmyelinated motor-
neuron fibers, and interneurons connecting the two sides of the cord. Gray-matter cells
form projections called horns. Fibers exiting the spinal cord from the dorsal and ventral
horns join in paired tracts to form the spinal nerves. Information travels up the ascending
tracts of neurons and is sorted by the brain. Responses are induced by nerve impulses
traveling down the descending tracts that stimulate motor neurons or that initiate glandular
secretion.