Question

Nancy the neuron has just fired an action potential. Now she cannot fire another action potential until she resets her electrical potential. She is in a(n) _____ period.

Answer 1

Nancy the neuron has just fired an action potential. Now she cannot fire another action potential until she resets her electrical potential. She is in a refractory period. The refractory period starts after the hyper-polarization of the neuron. In this phase the neurons is inhibited of generating further action potentials, and the recovery to resting potential of the neuron membrane begins with the potassium ions slowly leaking into the cell.