MEDICAL PHYSIOLOGY

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: -In its wake, the action potential leaves the Na+ channels inactivated and K+ channels activated for a brief time. These transitory changes make it harder for the axon to produce subsequent action potentials during this interval, which is called the refractory period.

Detailed explanation-3: -Abnormal neuronal firing can occur when the signals between neurons are somehow disrupted. Such a problem commonly occurs in the presence of “axonal shearing” as the structure and connection of the axon with cell body is disrupted or “sheared” from the cell body by trauma forces.