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Related Concept Videos

Action Potential01:14

Action Potential

Neurons communicate by firing action potentials—the electrochemical signal that is propagated along the axon. The signal results in the release of neurotransmitters at axon terminals, thereby transmitting information to the nervous system. An action potential is a specific "all-or-none" change in membrane potential that results in a rapid spike in voltage.
Membrane potential in neurons
Neurons typically have a resting membrane potential of about -70 millivolts (mV). When they receive...
Action Potential01:14

Action Potential

Neurons communicate by firing action potentials—the electrochemical signal that is propagated along the axon. The signal results in the release of neurotransmitters at axon terminals, thereby transmitting information to the nervous system. An action potential is a specific "all-or-none" change in membrane potential that results in a rapid spike in voltage.
Membrane potential in neurons
Neurons typically have a resting membrane potential of about -70 millivolts (mV). When they receive...
Action Potentials01:41

Action Potentials

Overview
Generation of Action Potential in Skeletal Muscles01:24

Generation of Action Potential in Skeletal Muscles

Every cell in the body maintains a membrane potential due to an uneven distribution of positive and negative charges across its plasma membrane. The membrane potential is measured in millivolts and quantifies the difference in charge across the membrane.
Like neurons, muscle cells are also regarded as excitable due to their capacity to change in response to stimuli, primarily due to voltage-gated ion channels embedded in their plasma membranes, which get activated by alterations in the cell's...
Excitatory and Inhibitory Effects of Neurotransmitters01:29

Excitatory and Inhibitory Effects of Neurotransmitters

When an action potential reaches the presynaptic axon terminal, it releases neurotransmitters from the neuron into the synaptic cleft at a chemical synapse. The released neurotransmitter can be excitatory or inhibitory. The critical criteria commonly used to determine whether a molecule is a neurotransmitter at a chemical synapse are the molecule's presence in the presynaptic neuron. Second, its release is in response to strong presynaptic depolarization. And lastly, the presence of specific...
The Resting Membrane Potential01:21

The Resting Membrane Potential

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Related Experiment Video

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In Vivo Electrophysiological Measurement of the Rat Ulnar Nerve with Axonal Excitability Testing
04:56

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Published on: February 6, 2018

Upper threshold of extracellular neural stimulation.

David Boinagrov1, Susanne Pangratz-Fuehrer, Bongsoo Suh

  • 1Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. boinagrov@gmail.com

Journal of Neurophysiology
|September 21, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Researchers discovered an upper stimulation threshold for neurons, beyond which action potentials cannot be generated. This finding, observed in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), has implications for designing neural prosthetics and electro-neural interfaces.

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Last Updated: May 18, 2026

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Biophysics
  • Biomedical Engineering

Background:

  • Neurons generate action potentials upon extracellular stimulation exceeding a lower threshold.
  • It is commonly assumed that neuronal stimulation has no upper limit before causing cellular damage.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the existence and characteristics of an upper stimulation threshold in neurons.
  • To determine the implications of this upper threshold for neural interface design.

Main Methods:

  • Extracellular stimulation of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) across varying pulse durations (5–500 μs).
  • Computational modeling of RGC stimulation to elucidate the mechanism behind the upper threshold.
  • Experimental validation using a low-sodium concentration medium.

Main Results:

  • An upper stimulation threshold was identified in RGCs, below the level of cellular damage.
  • The ratio of upper to lower stimulation thresholds ranged from 1.7 to 7.6, dependent on pulse duration.
  • Computational models and experiments confirmed that sodium current reversal underlies this upper threshold.

Conclusions:

  • A previously unrecognized upper stimulation threshold exists for neurons.
  • The limited stimulation window defined by lower and upper thresholds is crucial for developing effective electro-neural interfaces and neural prosthetics.