AL AZHAR UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Medicine for Girls

Year 1-Semester II
Academic year: 2022 / 2023
Module Name: Musculoskeletal and skin
Course code: IMP 07- 10212
Credit hours: 8 crh
Physiology department
Conduction of Action Potential Through a Nerve Fiber

Prof.Dr. Gehan Ahmed Youssef

Dr. Sara Nagdy
Intended Learning Outcomes
On completion of this lecture, the student should
be able to:
1- explain methods of conduction of action
potential through the nerve.
2- define all or none law and its application.
3- describe mechanism of biphasic and
compound action potential.
 NEURONS
It is the structural and functional unit of the
nervous system.
They are specialized to :
 respond to different types of stimuli
 conduct impulses
 release chemical regulators
N.B. :
A nerve impulse is a wave of depolarization which
propagates along the membrane of the nerve fiber.
CLASSIFICATION OF
NERVE FIBERS
 1- Classification of Nerve Fibers According
to the Direction of Impulse Conduction
 2- Classification of Nerve Fibers According
to the Presence or Absence of Myelin Sheath
 3- Classification of Nerve Fibers According
-

to the Diameter
1- Classification of Nerve Fibers
According to the Direction of
Impulse Conduction
 a-Afferent or sensory nerve fibers :
They conduct impulses from receptors to
the central nervous system .
 b- Efferent or motor nerve fibers
They conduct impulses from the central
nervous system to the affected organ .
 2- Classification of Nerve Fibers
According to the Presence or
Absence of Myelin Sheath
 a- Myelinated nerve fibers
Here , the axon is surrounded by a myelin sheath
There are gaps in the myelin sheath called nodes
of Ranvier at which the nerve fiber is exposed to
the extracellular fluid

 b-Unmyelinated nerve fibers

Unmyelinated nerve fiber has no myelin sheath .
 TYPES OF NERVE FIBERS
Myelinated nerve fibers Non-myelinated nerve
fiber
Covered by myelin sheath Not covered by myelin sheath

interrupted at Nodes of Ranvier:

are gaps at which the nerve fiber is
exposed to the extracellular fluid

Myelin sheath is a protein – lipid It is surrounded by Schwann

complex made by Schwann cells cells but there are no multiple
wrapped around the whole length of wrappings of the membrane
axon by multiple wrappings

It is an excellent insulator (ion flow

Through the membrane 5000 folds).
3- Classification of Nerve Fibers According to the Diameter
Nerve fibers are classified according to their diameter into
three types A, B and C.
A fibers are subdivided into α,β,γ and δ
A B C
Fiber
diameter 2-20 <3 0,3-1.2
41.11) .
Conduction
velocity 12-120 3-15 03-2
(meter/second)

Spike
duration 0.4-0.5 1.2 2
(milliseconds)
Susceptibility to:

1- Hypoxia
2- Pressure Intermediate
3- Local Most susceptible Least susceptible
Most susceptible
Anesthetics Intermediate Least susceptible
Least susceptible
Intermediate Most susceptible
 Methods of Conduction of The Action Potential
Through Nerve Fibers
 1-Conduction in unmyelinated nerve fibers by local
current flow:
 The area at which action potential occurs is called
active area (negative outside and positive inside) .
The remainder of the axon is still at the resting
membrane potential ( positive outside and negative
inside) and is considered as inactive area.

 For action potential to spread from the active

area to the inactive area , the inactive area must
be depolarized to the threshold before it can
undergo action potential. This depolarization
occurs by local current flow between the active
and inactive areas .
 This depolarizing effect brings the inactive area to
the threshold at which voltage Na+ channels in this
region of the membrane are open producing action
potential in the inactive area which becomes a new
active area.

 In turn , beyond the new active area is another

inactive area , so the same thing happens again .
Local current flow brings the next inactive area to
the threshold causing it to fire and become a new
active area .
This cycle repeats itself until the action potential has
spread to the end of the axon
2- Conduction in Myelinated Nerve
Fibers by Salutatory Conduction:
 Myelin sheath acts as insulator because myelin is
composed of lipids. Ions responsible for conduction
of action potential cannot pass through this lipid
barrier because they are water soluble ions.

 Voltage gated channels are concentrated at nodes of

Ranvier. So, action potential occurs at these nodes
only.

 The node at which action potential occurs is called

active node and the adjacent node which is in the
resting condition is called inactive node.
 Action potential is transmitted from the active node
to the inactive node by saltatory conduction. It is
so called because the impulse seems to jump from
one node to another over the myelinated parts of the
axon.
Advantages of Conduction in the myelinated nerve
fibers:
a. It is faster than in unmyelinated nerve fibers due to
the process of jumping.
b.It conserves energy because depolarization is
limited to nodes of Ranvier. So, Na+ influx is
minimum which saves energy required by Na+ - K+
pump .
ALL OR NONE LAW
 Definition: This law states that a threshold
stimulus produces maximal action potential.
This law is obeyed by
 1- A single nerve fiber
 2- A single skeletal muscle fiber or a single motor
unit
 3- The cardiac muscle (both atria , both ventricles)
act as one syncytium
 4- certain types of smooth muscles that act as one
syncytium
 Motor unit
It is a single motor neuron and all muscle fibers
it innervates.
Effect of Stimulation of Mixed Nerves

Peripheral ( mixed ) nerves contain a large number of

nerve fibers which have different degrees of excitability.
So their response is variable according to the strength of
the stimulus as follows:

• Sub threshold stimuli do not produce action

potential but produce local effects only in the
membrane potential
 Threshold stimuli produce small potential
changes because they excite the most excitable
nerve fibers .
 Suprathreshold stimuli produce larger
potential changes because they excite a greater
number of nerve fibers
 Maximal stimuli produce maximal potential
changes because they excite all nerve fibers
 Supramaximal stimuli produce the same
potential changes produced by the maximal
stimuli .
 Electronic potentials (electrotonus)
 Although subthreshold stimuli do not produce action
potential, they produce local change in the membrane
potential called electrotonic potentials.
 They are passive changes in membrane potential caused
by addition or subtraction of charges by the particular
electrode
 This can be demonstrated by placing recording electrodes
within a few millimeter of stimulating electrode and
applying sub-threshold stimuli of fixed duration.
Application of such currents leads to localized potential
changes that do not propagate but decay with time.
Types:
1- Catelectrotonic potential(catelectrotonus)
Definition :
It is the local change in the membrane potential at the cathode
by using sub-threshold stimuli
Characters:
Cathodal current is depolarizing current because it adds
negative charge on the cell membrane
 It increases nerve excitability
 It does not obey all or none law because its magnitude is
proportioate to the strength of the stimulating current:
 Weak stimuli do not produce action potential but produce
local potentail changes at the membrane called subthershold
potentials.
 Stronger stimuli rise the intensity of subthershold potential
occurs
2-anelectronic potentials (anelectrotonus)
Definition:
It is the local changes in the membrane potential at the
anode by using subthershold stimuli
Characters:
 Anodal current is a hyper polarizing current because it
adds positive charge on the outer surface of the cell
membrane
 It decreases nerve excitability and may produce anodal
block because it takes the membrane away from the firing
level
 It does not obey all or none law because its magnitude is
proportionate to the strength of the stimulating
The description of action potential outlined before is based
on recording the potential difference between the outside
and inside surface of the nerve fiber by using two
electrodes, one is placed on the surface of the nerve fiber
and the other is placed inside the nerve fiber. This is called
monophasic action potential
 When the two recording electrodes which are placed on
the outer surface of the nerve fiber are connected to
cathode ray oscilloscope, then the nerve is stimulated, a
biphasic action potential is recorded. It consists of
upward deflection followed by downward deflection
The compound action potentials (CAP): the algebric
summation of all the action potentials produced by all
fibers that were fired by stimulation of nerve trunks.
 Questions
1- Compare between myelinated and non-myelinated
nerve fiber?

2- Enumerate the methods of conduction of the

action potential through nerve fibers?

3- Define All or non-law? And which structures

obey this law?
1-Salutatory conduction through a nerve fiber occurs due to which of the following?
A. Axon hillock
B. Axon terminals
C. Myelin sheath
D. Nodes of Ranvier

2-Which of the following is a characteristic of catelectrotonus?

a. Depolarizing current
b. decrease nerve excitability
c. Obey all or non-law
d. Produce anodal block
A

3-The algebric summation of all the action potentials produced by all fibers that were
fired by stimulation of nerve trunks is referred to the following type of nerve
potential:
a. electrotonus
b. monophasic
c. biphasic
d. Compound

D
 Learning Resources
-Textbook of Medical Physiology
(Guyton & Hall): Unit II;
Chapter 5.
-Note book of physiology
department
-Internet search