Nerve impulse

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/nerve-impulse

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is a nerve impulse?A nerve impulse is a quick electrical signal that travels along nerve cells, letting the body send messages to muscles and the brain.
2. How does a nerve impulse start?When a nerve cell’s membrane becomes less negative and reaches a threshold, sodium channels open and sodium ions rush in, making the inside of the cell positive.

Action Potential: A rapid, transient, and regenerative change in membrane potential that propagates along an axon.
Voltage-Gated Ion Channels: Proteins in the cell membrane that open or close in response to changes in membrane voltage.
Saltatory Conduction: The propagation of action potentials along myelinated axons, jumping between nodes of Ranvier.