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Like all animal cells, the cell body of every neuron is enclosed by a plasma membrane, a bilayer of lipid molecules with many types of protein structures embedded in it. [12] A lipid bilayer is a powerful electrical insulator, but in neurons, many of the protein structures embedded in the membrane are electrically active. These include ion ...
In neuroscience, the axolemma (from Greek lemma 'membrane, envelope', and 'axo-' from axon [1]) is the cell membrane of an axon, [1] the branch of a neuron through which signals (action potentials) are transmitted. The axolemma is a three-layered, bilipid membrane. Under standard electron microscope preparations, the structure is approximately ...
Illustration of a eukaryotic cell membrane Comparison of a eukaryotic vs. a prokaryotic cell membrane. The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of a cell from the outside environment (the extracellular space).
The signals can only continue along the neuron to cause an action potential further down if they are strong enough to make it past the cell's membrane resistance and capacitance. For example, a neuron with a large diameter has more ionic channels in its membrane than a smaller cell, resulting in a lower resistance to the flow of ionic current.
When a cell is at rest, the cell maintains what is known as a resting potential. The resting potential generated by nearly all cells results in the interior of the cell having a negative charge compared to the exterior of the cell. To maintain this electrical imbalance, ions are transported across the cell's plasma membrane. [3]
The neuron membrane is more permeable to K + than to other ions, allowing this ion to selectively move out of the cell, down its concentration gradient. This concentration gradient along with potassium leak channels present on the membrane of the neuron causes an efflux of potassium ions making the resting potential close to E K ≈ –75 mV ...
The neuron is bound by an insulating cell membrane and can maintain a concentration of charged ions on either side that determines a capacitance C m. The firing of a neuron involves the movement of ions into the cell, that occurs when neurotransmitters cause ion channels on the cell membrane to open.
After repolarization, the cell hyperpolarizes as it reaches resting membrane potential (−70 mV in neuron). Sodium (Na +) and potassium ions inside and outside the cell are moved by a sodium potassium pump, ensuring that electrochemical equilibrium remains unreached to allow the cell to maintain a state of resting membrane potential. [2]