Electric Properties of a Nueron

The basic function of a neuron is that of information processing and transduction. A nerve cell has certain electrical properties which makes a nerve impulse possible. The message is carried by a neuron, through the dendrite to the axon and the terminal button to another neuron by making a synaptic connection. This is electrical in nature. However, the axon does not carry a message the way a wire transmits electrical current. Instead, the message is transmitted by means of complex changes in the membrane of the axon, which results in exchanges of various chemical constituents of the extra cellular fluid and the fluid within the axon.

The nerve impulse is accompanied by small electrical changes called as action potential. The existence of action potential makes the nerve impulse relatively easy to observe and measure. Small wire electrodes placed near the surface of the axon detect the electrical activity generated by the neuron. This can then be amplified and recorded in a visual form.

An important electrical property of a neuron is the All or None Law which states that you get an action potential or you do not. Once it has been triggered, it is transmitted down the axon to its end. It always remains the same size without growing or diminishing.