Nerve conduction

Nerve conduction is the propagation of electrical signals along neurons and the transmission of chemical signals between them. It enables rapid communication across the nervous system.

Action potential: A brief reversal of a cell membrane’s electrical potential that travels along an excitable cell. It is the electrical impulse that travels along many neurons.
Neuron: An excitable cell specialized to receive, process, and transmit information through electrical and chemical signals. Nerve conduction is the signaling activity of these cells.
Nerve conduction study: A diagnostic test that stimulates peripheral nerves and records the resulting electrical responses. It measures the speed and strength of signals traveling through peripheral nerves.
Continuous conduction: The stepwise propagation of an action potential along an unmyelinated axon membrane. Unlike saltatory conduction, it activates successive sections of the entire axon membrane.
Resting membrane potential: The voltage difference across a cell membrane when the cell is not actively signaling. Its ion gradients provide the starting conditions for an action potential.
Axon: A neuron’s elongated projection that conducts electrical impulses away from its cell body. Action potentials propagate along this specialized cellular cable.
Electromyography: A diagnostic technique that records the electrical activity of skeletal muscles. It is often paired with conduction studies to assess nerve and muscle disorders.
Conduction velocity: The speed at which an electrical impulse travels along a nerve fiber. It quantifies how quickly nerve conduction carries a signal.
Voltage-gated ion channel: A membrane protein that opens or closes an ion-conducting pore in response to voltage changes. These channels produce the changing ion currents that carry impulses.
Myelin: A lipid-rich insulating sheath around some nerve fibers, produced by glial cells. It reduces current leakage and speeds impulse propagation along axons.

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