Des Moines Memorial Drive. âIn years to come, when the young men of today are the old men of tomorrow those elms will have come into their full strength and beauty, an ever present reminder of the days when the Americans of the World War marched on French highways.â â Lt. Gov. W. J. âWeeâ Coyle, at the dedication ceremonies, 1922.
Stages of Neural Impulses. Resting potential is the name for the electrical state when a neuron is not actively being signaled. A neuron at resting potential has a membrane with established amounts of sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) ions on either side, leaving the inside of the neuron negatively charged relative to the outside. The action potential is a rapid change in polarity that moves along the nerve fiber from neuron to neuron.
The potential that is recorded when a living cell is impaled with a microelectrode is called the resting potential, and varies from cell to cell. Here it is shown to be -60 mV, but can range between -80 mV and -40 mV, depending on the particular type of nerve cell. In the absence of any stimulation, the resting potential is generally constant. It is also possible to record and study the action potential. Figure 1.3 illustrates an example in which a neuron has already been impaled with one microelectrode (the recording electrode), which is connected to a voltmeter. The electrode records a resting potential of -60 mV.