Thursday, February 7, 2013

Action Potentials Up Close




Here is a pretty nice video showing action potentials and how they are propogated without decreasing.



Another one which shows the voltage-gated Sodium and Potassium channels:


This animated image is a bit difficult to follow because it's so fast, but seems like it could be helpful to someone, especially if you know how to slow it down (which I don't- if you know, please teach me!).  So here it is.
Source


Here are a few various visualizations I liked

Source - awesome nervous system/eye/ear post!

Source


Source - great post with lots of details!

The following images were all from this excellent source: http://mikeclaffey.com/psyc2/notes-neurons.html

First, we see the steps of the action potential and what is going on with the various channels:
Source


Next, here is a nice depiction of how the action potential moves down the axon and why impulses travel one-way.

Source


Lastly, we see how saltatory conduction works.  This is the fastest way to conduct an impulse because it gets to "skip" all that length of the membrane on the axon that is myelenated.

Source


There you are, folks, another deeper view into the amazing world of Action Potentials and your nervous system...isn't this awesome!?

(If you missed the first post, here is a link to it)
Action Potentials - What Make Your Brain Work

2 comments:

  1. you just saved my life. I have a physiology paper due in a few hours! Thank-you!

    ReplyDelete