Shunting is an event in the

neuron A neuron, neurone, or nerve cell is an electrically excitable cell that communicates with other cells via specialized connections called synapses. The neuron is the main component of nervous tissue in all animals except sponges and placozoa. N ...

which occurs when an

excitatory postsynaptic potential In neuroscience, an excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) is a postsynaptic potential that makes the postsynaptic neuron more likely to fire an action potential. This temporary depolarization of postsynaptic membrane potential, caused by the ...

and an

inhibitory postsynaptic potential An inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP) is a kind of synaptic potential that makes a postsynaptic neuron less likely to generate an action potential.Purves et al. Neuroscience. 4th ed. Sunderland (MA): Sinauer Associates, Incorporated; 2008. ...

are occurring close to each other on a

dendrite Dendrites (from Greek δένδρον ''déndron'', "tree"), also dendrons, are branched protoplasmic extensions of a nerve cell that propagate the electrochemical stimulation received from other neural cells to the cell body, or soma, of the n ...

, or are both on the

soma Soma may refer to: Businesses and brands * SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects * Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems * SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...

of the cell.Kandel, E. R., Schwartz, J. H., Jessell, T. M. (2000)

981 Year 981 ( CMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events Births * Abu'l-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Maghribi, Arab statesman (d. 1027) * Giovanni Orseolo, Venetian ...

''Principles of Neural Science'' (Fourth ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 217, 223-225 According to

temporal summation Summation, which includes both spatial summation and temporal summation, is the process that determines whether or not an action potential will be generated by the combined effects of excitatory and inhibitory signals, both from multiple simultane ...

one would expect the inhibitory and excitatory currents to be summed linearly to describe the resulting current entering the cell. However, when inhibitory and excitatory currents are on the soma of the cell, the inhibitory current causes the cell resistance to change (making the cell "leakier"), thereby "shunting" instead of completely eliminating the effects of the excitatory input.

References

{{Reflist Neurophysiology

See also

References