PhysioEx 9.0 Exercise 3: Neurphysiology of Nerve Impulses

Activity 6:
Compare the action potential frequency in a temperature-sensitive sensory neuron exposed to warm water and then hot water

When a long-duration stimulus is applied, what two determinants of an action potential refractory period are being overcome?


Activity 7
When you burn your finger on a hot stove, you feel sharp, immediate pain, which later becomes slow, throbbing pain. These two types of pain are carried by different in pain axons. Speculate on the axonal diameter and extent of myelination of these axons.

Why do humans posses a mixture of axons, some large-diameter, heavily myelinated axons and some small-diameter, relatively unmyelinated axons?