Action potential

An action potential is a "spike" of electrical discharge that travels along the membrane of a cell. Action potentials are an essential feature of animal life, rapidly carrying information within and between tissues. They also occur in some plants. Action potentials can be created by many types of cells, but are used most extensively by the nervous system for communication between neurons and for transmitting information from neurons to other body tissues such as muscles and glands.

Action potentials are not the same in all cell types and can even vary in their properties at different locations in the same cell. For example, cardiac action potentials are significantly different from the action potentials in most neurons. This article is primarily concerned with the "typical" action potential of axons.