1. Action Potentials

2. YouTube Nerve Impulse Animation

3. How does the electrical signal travel along the axon?
Action Potential

4. Action Potential
An Action potential is a electrical signal that moves down an axon away from the cell body

5. What happens when the impulse reaches the end of the neuron?
The axon terminal ends at the synapse

6. Synapse
Synapse - A structure that permits a neuron to pass an electro-chemical signal to an adjacent neuron.

7. What happens at the Synapse?
The electrical activity is converted into the release of a chemical (neurotransmitter), which binds to receptors

8. YouTube Synapse

9. Propagation of the Nerve Impulse1 2 3
Dendrites Cell Body Axon (Action Potential)
Axon
Terminal 4 7 6 5
Receptor Neurotransmitter Synapse

10. YouTube Action Potential Animation

11. YouTube The Schwann Cell and Action Potential

12. Stop Here

13. Action Potential
Neuron is stimulated by another neuron or by the environment.
Positively charged sodium ions flood in and the inside becomes temporarily more positive.
As the impulse passes, potassium ions flood out restoring the resting potential.