Editing Action potential (section)

==Overview==
[[File:Action potential basic shape.svg|thumb|right|Shape of a typical action potential. The membrane potential remains near a baseline level until at some point in time, it abruptly spikes upward and then rapidly falls.]]
Nearly all [[cell membrane]]s in animals, plants and fungi maintain a [[voltage]] difference between the exterior and interior of the cell, called the [[membrane potential]]. A typical voltage across an animal cell membrane is −70 mV. This means that the interior of the cell has a negative voltage relative to the exterior. In most types of cells, the membrane potential usually stays fairly constant. Some types of cells, however, are electrically active in the sense that their voltages fluctuate over time. In some types of electrically active cells, including [[neuron]]s and muscle cells, the voltage fluctuations frequently take the form of a rapid upward (positive) spike followed by a rapid fall. These up-and-down cycles are known as ''action potentials''. In some types of neurons, the entire up-and-down cycle takes place in a few thousandths of a second. In muscle cells, a typical action potential lasts about a fifth of a second. In [[plant cell]]s, an action potential may last three seconds or more.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pickard|first=Barbara | name-list-style = vanc |date=June 1973|title=Action Potentials in Higher Plants|url=http://www.esalq.usp.br/lepse/imgs/conteudo_thumb/Action-Potentials-in-Higher-Plants-1.pdf|journal=The Botanical Review|volume=39|issue=2|pages=188|doi=10.1007/BF02859299|bibcode=1973BotRv..39..172P |s2cid=5026557 }}</ref>

The electrical properties of a cell are determined by the structure of its membrane. A [[cell membrane]] consists of a [[lipid bilayer]] of molecules in which larger protein molecules are embedded. The lipid bilayer is highly resistant to movement of electrically charged ions, so it functions as an insulator. The large membrane-embedded proteins, in contrast, provide channels through which ions can pass across the membrane. Action potentials are driven by channel proteins whose configuration switches between closed and open states as a function of the voltage difference between the interior and exterior of the cell. These voltage-sensitive proteins are known as [[voltage-gated ion channel]]s.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

===Process in a typical neuron===
[[File:Action potential.svg|thumb|300px|Approximate plot of a typical action potential shows its various phases as the action potential passes a point on a [[cell membrane]]. The membrane potential starts out at approximately −70 mV at time zero. A stimulus is applied at time = 1 ms, which raises the membrane potential above −55 mV (the threshold potential). After the stimulus is applied, the membrane potential rapidly rises to a peak potential of +40 mV at time = 2 ms. Just as quickly, the potential then drops and overshoots to −90 mV at time = 3 ms, and finally the resting potential of −70 mV is reestablished at time = 5 ms.]]
All cells in animal body tissues are [[Dielectric#Ionic polarization|electrically polarized]] – in other words, they maintain a voltage difference across the cell's [[plasma membrane]], known as the [[membrane potential]]. This electrical polarization results from a complex interplay between protein structures embedded in the membrane called [[Ion transporter|ion pump]]s and [[ion channel]]s. In neurons, the types of ion channels in the membrane usually vary across different parts of the cell, giving the [[dendrite]]s, [[axon]], and [[soma (biology)|cell body]] different electrical properties. As a result, some parts of the membrane of a neuron may be excitable (capable of generating action potentials), whereas others are not. Recent studies have shown that the most excitable part of a neuron is the part after the [[axon hillock]] (the point where the axon leaves the cell body), which is called the [[axonal initial segment]], but the axon and cell body are also excitable in most cases.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Leterrier C | title = The Axon Initial Segment: An Updated Viewpoint | journal = The Journal of Neuroscience | volume = 38 | issue = 9 | pages = 2135–2145 | date = February 2018 | pmid = 29378864 | pmc = 6596274 | doi = 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1922-17.2018 }}</ref>

Each excitable patch of membrane has two important levels of membrane potential: the [[resting potential]], which is the value the membrane potential maintains as long as nothing perturbs the cell, and a higher value called the [[threshold potential]]. At the axon hillock of a typical neuron, the resting potential is around −70 millivolts (mV) and the threshold potential is around −55 mV. Synaptic inputs to a neuron cause the membrane to [[depolarization|depolarize]] or [[Hyperpolarization (biology)|hyperpolarize]]; that is, they cause the membrane potential to rise or fall. Action potentials are triggered when enough depolarization accumulates to bring the membrane potential up to threshold. When an action potential is triggered, the membrane potential abruptly shoots upward and then equally abruptly shoots back downward, often ending below the resting level, where it remains for some period of time. The shape of the action potential is stereotyped; this means that the rise and fall usually have approximately the same amplitude and time course for all action potentials in a given cell. (Exceptions are discussed later in the article) In most neurons, the entire process takes place in about a thousandth of a second. Many types of neurons emit action potentials constantly at rates of up to 10–100 per second. However, some types are much quieter, and may go for minutes or longer without emitting any action potentials.