Membrane Potential

These flashcards cover key concepts and details related to membrane potential, its causes, and its contributions in neurons.

What is membrane potential?

Membrane potential is the electrical potential difference across a cell membrane, caused by the distribution of ions, primarily sodium and potassium.

How do potassium and sodium contribute to membrane potential?

Potassium ions (K+) tend to leak out of the cell while sodium ions (Na+) tend to leak into the cell, which affects the membrane potential.

What does the concentration gradient for potassium and sodium look like?

Potassium has a higher concentration inside the cell, while sodium has a higher concentration outside the cell.

In which direction do potassium ions leak?

Potassium ions leak out of the cell.

In which direction do sodium ions leak?

Sodium ions leak into the cell.

What would membrane potential look like in a system with only sodium ions?

In a system with only sodium ions, the membrane potential would be positive.

What would membrane potential look like in a system with only potassium ions?

In a system with only potassium ions, the membrane potential would be negative.

What are the three types of transport that contribute to the maintenance of resting membrane potential?

The three types of transport are passive diffusion, facilitated diffusion, and active transport.

Describe the action of the sodium-potassium pump.

The sodium-potassium pump transports 3 sodium ions out of the cell and 2 potassium ions into the cell, maintaining the gradients.

What is resting membrane potential?

Resting membrane potential is the steady-state voltage across the cellular membrane when the cell is not actively sending signals, typically around -70mV in neurons.