How does stimulus intensity affect the firing of action potentials?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking about the relationship between the intensity of stimuli and the generation of action potentials in neurons. It seeks to understand how stronger or weaker stimuli influence the frequency or occurrence of action potentials.
Answer
Increased stimulus intensity raises action potential frequency, not size.
Increased stimulus intensity leads to a higher frequency of action potentials, but the size of the action potential does not change.
Answer for screen readers
Increased stimulus intensity leads to a higher frequency of action potentials, but the size of the action potential does not change.
More Information
Action potentials are generated by neurons when they are stimulated. The intensity of the stimulus is reflected by the frequency of firing: stronger stimuli generate more frequent action potentials. This is called frequency coding.
Tips
A common mistake is assuming that the size or amplitude of the action potentials increases with stimulus intensity, but only the frequency increases.
Sources
- Neuron action potentials: The creation of a brain signal (article) - Khan Academy - khanacademy.org
- Action potential - Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org
- Nerve cells and action potentials - UTH Neurobiology Research - nba.uth.tmc.edu
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