| 释义 |
afterpotential, n. Physiol.|ˈɑːftəpəʊˌtɛnʃəl|
[f. after- 6 + potential a. and n. B.]
A (usu. slow) fluctuation in the electrical potential of a nerve cell or heart muscle cell, which sometimes follows an action potential.
1930Gasser & Erlanger in Amer. Jrnl. Physiol. XCIV. 248 After considering various possibilities we have decided upon ‘spike’ and ‘after-potential’... The latter term has the double advantage that it refers only to a potential and that, while it is entirely non-committal as to whether or not this potential is continuous with the spike, it covers the situation satisfactorily if, as is probably the case, the after-potential is separate. 1935Jrnl. Physiol. LXXXV. 464 In the non-medullated vagal fibres the spike is followed by a short positive after-potential. 1968Ibid. CXCVII. 86P The amplitude and duration of the after-potential is dependent on the duration of the preceding stimulus. 1987M. J. Neal Med. Pharmacol. xvii. 41/1 If the afterpotential reaches threshold, an action potential is generated causing an ‘ectopic beat’. |