AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -15.2 REFRACTORY PERIOD Neurons, however, cannot fire immediately after an action potential because the sodium channels responsible for the fast membrane potential depolarization need first to recover from inactivation, a process that requires some time.

Detailed explanation-2: -By definition, the refractory period is a period of time during which a cell is incapable of repeating an action potential. In terms of action potentials, it refers to the amount of time it takes for an excitable membrane to be ready to respond to a second stimulus once it returns to a resting state.

Detailed explanation-3: -These transitory changes make it harder for the axon to produce subsequent action potentials during this interval, which is called the refractory period. Thus, the refractory period limits the number of action potentials that a given nerve cell can produce per unit time.

Detailed explanation-4: -The refractory period of a neuron is the time in which a nerve cell is unable to fire an action potential (nerve impulse). Two subsets exist in terms of neurons: absolute refractory period and relative refractory period.