Action potential experiments

MONASH University 

 Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
BackgroundThe Action potentialRefractory periodStimulus strengthAdaptationAxon diameter
Theory Simulation

Spike-rate adaptation

In the previous experiment we varied the stimulus strength while keeping stimulus duration constant, and we saw that a stronger stimulus increases the firing rate of a neuron. But does this firing rate stay constant during however long we decide to keep the stimulus on?

As it turns out, neurons have a mechanism called spike rate adaptation (or spike frequency adaptation), which slows down the firing rate once it's been generating action potentials for a period of time.

In this simulation we will have a constant stimulus strength of 35 nA and we will vary the stimulus duration, to see how the firing rate differs between the start and end of a short stimulus duration, versus a longer one.

Encoding stimulus strength

Mobile Support Warning

This simulation was designed with a desktop interface in mind, and may not function correctly on smaller screens or mobile devices.

Stimulus strength: 35 nA

Fill out this table with the values from the simulation. Hovering over a point in the graph will give you the x and y values, round your answer to the nearest tenth of a millisecond (i.e. one decimal digit).

Stimulus
duration
Time interval between peaks of:
First two action potentials Last two action potentials

© 2023 Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University
Developed by Glitch Taylor and Dr. Maria del Mar Quiroga, under the direction of Prof. Ramesh Rajan
All queries should be directed to physiol-sim@monash.edu