Questions tagged [electrophysiology]
The study of the electrical properties of biological cells and tissues.
171
questions
-2
votes
1
answer
35
views
Can a dead fish be made to twitch via electrostimulation?
Galvani in the 1700s famously showed that a dead frog can be made to twitch by electric stimulation. The hind legs are particularly susceptible. Salt helps in the activation, as shown in these videos:
...
4
votes
1
answer
66
views
Ischemia-induced deploarization in excitable cells
I have read in many sources that ischemia-induced depolarization is due to the opening of ATP-sensitive potassium channels and inactivation of Na/K exchangers [1,2]. However, K-atp channels are inward-...
- 43
2
votes
0
answers
32
views
conduction in unmyelinated axons
(Not a specialist here) Several questions touch the voltage propagation along an unmyelinated axon, but I'd like to focus on the following.
How fast does the voltage of a sub-threshold perturbation ...
- 171
3
votes
1
answer
77
views
What's the effect of prolonged threshold stimulus currents on action potentials?
I've been confused as to what exactly occurs when a current is injected into a membrane, throughout the duration of an action potential. My main source of confusion has been trying to reconcile 2 ...
- 65
3
votes
1
answer
47
views
Stimulus currents and neuronal responses
As I understand it, if a subthreshold current of unlimited duration is injected in a neuron, a passive response is observed, like an RC circuit. The membrane potential is depolarized by some arbitrary ...
- 65
3
votes
1
answer
74
views
Why do larger neurons have less cytoplasmic resistance?
I'm studying neuron electrochemistry rn and my book basically says that the more the cytoplasm impedes the flow of ions, the slower conduction will be, therefore larger neurons will have lower ...
25
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Why do blood vessels in the eye not obstruct vision?
As light enters the eye, it reaches the photoreceptors at the "base" of the retina, which then pass that signal to the bipolar and ganglionic neurons -- the latter of which send the signal ...
- 26.9k
2
votes
2
answers
728
views
Why are nerves blocked even though potassium channels are not blocked?
One could read "Local anesthetics produce a very slight, virtually insignificant,
decrease in potassium (K+) conductance through
the nerve membrane." At Handbook of Local Anesthesia 7th ...
- 231
0
votes
0
answers
22
views
If electrical muscle stimulation activates muscles the same way a brain does, why doesn't it result in the same muscle mass increase?
I've been reading about Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), (also known as neuromuscular electrical stimulation or electromyostimulation).
All resources stress that the electrical signals used by EMS ...
- 1
0
votes
0
answers
29
views
How Fast can the Electrochemical Gradient on a Neuron be Reestablished? [duplicate]
The electrochemical gradient of Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Cl- between the inside and outside of a neuron is vital for its function. When a neuron fires, this gradient reverses. How long does it take for the ...
- 365
1
vote
1
answer
115
views
GHK Equation and Action potential
Can GHK equation be used to predict the membrane potential even if the cell is not at resting state?
To say it again, can we use GHK equation at every moment during Action potential?
I'm confused ...
- 43
-1
votes
1
answer
34
views
Using Nerve Conduction Studies to determine nerve regeneration
I was reading a paper investigating using MRI as a way to determine peripheral nerve regeneration: https://sci-hub.do/10.1016/j.expneurol.2009.10.012
They mention that
... nerve conduction studies ...
- 841
1
vote
0
answers
19
views
Potential obstacles to growing nanoelectronics within living cells? [closed]
Say there was a nanotechnology allowing to "grow" and wire up electronic components/sensors measured only a few nanometers in cross-section, though spanning in length across microns. Say ...
- 170
2
votes
0
answers
27
views
Can high energy photoelectrons damage cell membranes?
I've read that in addition to ionizing radiation causing damage to DNA through direct absorption, but DNA can also be damaged through photoelectrons with enough energy. The thing I was wondering is ...
- 371
2
votes
2
answers
507
views
How many Watt-hours can an electric eel produce in a day?
Electric eels are cited as being about to produce about 860 watts of energy. But I haven't been able to find information on how long they can sustain their charge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...
- 273
4
votes
1
answer
128
views
Do electric eels produce current as they just move about, and how/why?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9wktSQdyaE
This video demonstrates how an electric eel can supposedly produce up to 800 watts, and power a Christmas tree, which is very topical (a late Merry ...
- 273
2
votes
0
answers
58
views
How can I simulate heart electrical activity in a 2D plane?
I am not a biologist/medical student, I study software engineering. But I really like when medicine and engineering hold their hands together to achieve great things.
As a side/toy project, I was ...
- 163
0
votes
1
answer
130
views
What is a "membrane holding potential"?
What is a membrane holding potential? I have come across this term but haven't been able to find a definition.
From "Voltage-gated sodium channels as therapeutic targets in epilepsy and other ...
- 1,277
1
vote
0
answers
20
views
Is there a way to derive Bazett's formula to correct QT interval in ECG?
As we know that QT interval in ECG is a function of heart rate (HR) and to comment on the pathology associated with altered QT interval, we must neutralise the effect of HR. For this Bazett's formula ...
- 607
0
votes
0
answers
23
views
How do I stimulate a neuron extracellularly, specifically the sphenopalatine ganglion
Apologies if this is too basic of a question, but I am an electrical engineer, just getting into neuromodulation/neurostimulation.
For my senior project, I am trying to make a device that stimulates ...
- 1
-1
votes
1
answer
48
views
What's a cells membrane potential without any leak channels?
Consider the following ion concentrations on either side of a cell membrane (in = inside cell, out = outside cell):
$[\text{Na}^+]_{\text{in}} = 10mM$,
$[\text{Na}^+]_{\text{out}} = 142mM$,
$[\text{K}^...
- 7
1
vote
1
answer
165
views
Why is the current flow shown to be flowing from the negative area towards the positive area?
When I was studying the ECG chapter in the book "Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology", I noticed something odd in one of the pictures:
As you can see the current is shown to be ...
- 21
2
votes
1
answer
165
views
Why does increasing the space constant increase conduction velocity in myelinated neurons if nodes of Ranvier are constantly spaced?
If depolarisation at one node of Ranvier triggers, by passive conduction, an action potential at the next node of Ranvier, why does increasing the space constant increase conduction velocity? Surely ...
- 141
1
vote
2
answers
333
views
At small axon diameters (<1 µm), why does myelination not increase neuronal conduction velocity?
As per the diagram below (and other graphs available online), why do unmyelinated fibres have a higher conduction velocity than myelinated fibres when the axon diameter is less than around 1 µm?
- 141
0
votes
0
answers
35
views
Effect of opposing electric charges on cells
Is the affect on a cell between two negatively charged plates theoretically similar to between a positively and negatively charged plate? In other words, would it induce charges on the inside and ...
- 371
0
votes
0
answers
53
views
Is there a proton gradient across the cell membrane, just like for the mitochondrial membrane?
Mitochondria have a proton gradient, is there also a proton gradient between cells and the extracellular medium?
- 9
3
votes
1
answer
344
views
What is the significance of the amplitude of brain waves?
What does the amplitude of brain waves represent and to what neuronal activities is this amplitude related to?
For example, in a hypothetical situation, the frequency of brain waves is kept the same, ...
- 33
1
vote
1
answer
28
views
Question about the Derivation of the cable equation for neurites
I read in Wikipedia how the cable equation was derived (here) and had a specific problem regarding one of its equation:
At the start of the derivation it states that we first need to pretend that the ...
- 123
1
vote
1
answer
74
views
Why the length constant of passive current flow isn't depend on the membrane capacitance?
I read that the equation for the length constant for passive conductance along a neuron depend on the resistance of the plasma membrane, the intracellular axoplasm and the extracellular medium. My ...
- 123
2
votes
1
answer
150
views
Help me understand voltage patch clamping
Before I type my question it is important to know that I already tried looking this up on my own and could not find an answer because the answers are all in complicated physics terms and this topic is ...
- 57
4
votes
1
answer
192
views
electrostatic charge of viruses, especially Coronaviruses
I am searching for (and failing to find) literature about the electric charge (+/-) of viruses, specifically the Coronaviruses. I am aware that it is a complicated issue, including interaction of pH ...
- 59
1
vote
1
answer
49
views
What is happening at the electrode interface when the electrical field is modified due to the change of ion concentration after an AP?
I have been working for quite a while now on electrophysiology and electrode fabrication.
I studied what is happening at the neuron level during an action potential (polarization/depolarization, ...
- 19
0
votes
0
answers
30
views
Does the zeta potential of a nanoparticle generally take into account ligand charge?
For example, if I had a quantum dot nanoparticle with conjugated linker peptides capped with polyarginine tracts.
Would the localization of negative charge from arginine change the zeta potential ...
- 1
1
vote
1
answer
97
views
In the PR segment of an ECG, how come there's no current flowing?
I don't really know how to phrase the question, but to put it as clearly as I can, I don't get why it is the P wave "flattens down" when the atria have completely depolarized. I get that the ...
- 293
1
vote
1
answer
112
views
Physiology of hyperpolarization
In my textbook, it is stated that after the closure of potassium voltage-gated channels and during hyperpolarization, potassium leakage channels allow potassium influx passively and this returns the ...
- 320
1
vote
1
answer
4k
views
Difference between Premature Atrial Contraction and Atrial Fibrillation
what is the difference between Premature Atrial Contraction and Atrial Fibrillation. I know that both have irregular heart beat but have normal QRS complex. Both have abnormal or absence P waves but a ...
- 55
2
votes
1
answer
42
views
Definition for different arrhythmia
I am wondering if there is an organization, a document or a research that standardize all the rhythms? Such as describing how long should the ECG be flatline to be considered as asystole? The rhythm I ...
- 55
6
votes
1
answer
131
views
Where does this equation in the electrophysiology literature form come from?
In my studies I keep coming across the form of an equation that is used in many different mathematical models for voltage gated ion channels. The most general form I have found is in the 1977 paper ...
- 273
1
vote
0
answers
31
views
Is the medium which transmits the electrical impulse through the heart different to a nerve?
According to Nerve
A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibres called axons
Being an Axon
An axon (from Greek ἄξων áxōn, axis), or nerve fiber, is a long, slender projection of a ...
- 2,767
6
votes
1
answer
984
views
Why do larger diameter myelinated axons have greater conduction velocities than small diameter myelinated axons?
A canonical statement I have frequently read is that "large diameter axons conduct action potentials at faster velocities than small diameter axons". After recently learning the effect of increased ...
- 375
1
vote
0
answers
87
views
Are large cell bodies of neurons harder to depolarize than small cell bodies of neurons?
In order for the axon to initiate an action potential, we know that the axon initial segment must be brought to threshold. So my question is as follows:
Say we have the minimum charge input, "X", ...
- 375
1
vote
0
answers
114
views
What is the difference in the electrical excitability between a "large diameter soma" and a "large diameter axon"
There are two stereotyped statements that I have seen during my coursework regarding electric properties of neurons:
Large diameter axons propagate action potentials more quickly than small diameter ...
- 375
5
votes
1
answer
86
views
At What Rate Do Ions Leak Out of a Plasma Membrane Segment That Has No Ion Channels?
In reading about the purpose of myelin during action potential propagation, I came across a point of confusion.
From what I understand, one of the primary "benefits" of myelin is that it aids in ...
- 375
1
vote
1
answer
237
views
Assumptions for Nernst Equation
While I am familiar with some of the conditions for the Nernst Equation, for example:
1) "The membrane is only permeable to one ion even if there are several other ions in the system"
there is an ...
- 375
1
vote
0
answers
32
views
What causes bio electricity? [closed]
When it is said that “electrical impulses sent from the brain” how is this charge flow produced?
- 192
2
votes
0
answers
161
views
Living potato clock? [duplicate]
Could a potato stay alive and power a clock while growing in the ground?
I know how a potato clock works as a electrochemical cell and involves chemistry, but I am only interested in a growing ...
- 1
1
vote
1
answer
44
views
Entropy during neuronal signaling
to begin with: I have some background in cognitive neuroscience, but have not intensely studied the biochemical background of neuronal signalling, so please correct me if my basic understanding is ...
- 113
4
votes
0
answers
41
views
How do scientists determine the nature of ions passing through a channel/carrier/pump?
The NCE (Sodium Calcium Exchanger) transports 3 Na+ inside the cell for 1 Ca2+ outside.
How did we figure this out, and other mechanisms of this sort?
If it were a protein, we could tag it with GFP. ...
- 41
6
votes
2
answers
205
views
Are there any organisms, extant or extinct, that have only one neuron?
Nervous systems are useful in one way because they allow for integration of complex information. They are also useful because they transmit information very rapidly, over a large distance.
However, ...
0
votes
0
answers
68
views
Action potential frequency presynaptic neuron comared with in post-synaptic neuron/ muscle cells
I am a physicist interested in knowing how the action potential frequency in a presynaptic neuron compares with that in
a) a post-synaptic neuron and
b) membrane depolarisation of muslce cells, ...
- 2,921