Action Potential Research Paper

Neurons in our brain are constantly communicating by releasing chemical signals or neurotransmitters across the synapse of one neuron to another. Action potential is important for how neurons communicate. When an action potential reaches the axon terminals, the neurotransmitters packaged in vesicles are able to release the information to the other neurons' synapse. The axon hillock of the nerve cell, which is the beginning of the axon, is where action potentials are generated. The action potential propagates throughout the axon, the long part of neuron, where an exchange of ions occur. The ions exchanged include potassium ions (K+) and sodium ions (Na+). Sodium ions are sodium atoms with a positive charge as a result of losing and electron. Certain proteins along the cell's plasma membrane called ion channels play a significant role in the process, allowing particular ions in and out of the membrane.

The neuron is known to be polarized at this voltage. Most of the sodium ions (Na+) are located outside the cell while potassium ions (K+) and anions are inside the cell. The inside of the cell has a negative charge at rest compared to the fluid outside the cell; anions are negatively charged molecules that cannot leave through ion channels because they're too big, so they always remain inside the cell. There is no ion movement during the resting