Process
Action potential
A brief electrical pulse that travels along a neuron as sodium and potassium ions flow through channels.
Myelin
An insulating sheath around many nerve fibers. Signals jump between the gaps in it, which makes them travel faster.Source: Huxley & Stämpfli, 1949Source: Purves et al., 2001
Step 4 of 7ReadingStructure
How Myelin connects
Myelin is related to
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Sources & further reading
The explanations on this page are our own summaries of these sources. Follow a link to read the original; if anything here disagrees with it, the original wins. How we choose and check sources.
Evidence for saltatory conduction in peripheral myelinated nerve fibres (opens the original in a new tab)
Huxley AF, Stämpfli R (1949). Journal of Physiology 108:315-339.
Historical paperPrimary researchNeuroscience (2nd edition) (opens the original in a new tab)
Purves D, Augustine GJ, Fitzpatrick D, et al. (2001). Sinauer Associates.
Edited textbook, free to read on NCBI Bookshelf.
TextbookEducational