Slow afterhyperpolarisation (sAHP) refers to prolonged periods of
hyperpolarisation in a
neuron
A neuron (American English), neurone (British English), or nerve cell, is an membrane potential#Cell excitability, excitable cell (biology), cell that fires electric signals called action potentials across a neural network (biology), neural net ...
or
cardiomyocyte
Cardiac muscle (also called heart muscle or myocardium) is one of three types of vertebrate muscle tissues, the others being skeletal muscle and smooth muscle. It is an involuntary, striated muscle that constitutes the main tissue of the wall of ...
following an
action potential
An action potential (also known as a nerve impulse or "spike" when in a neuron) is a series of quick changes in voltage across a cell membrane. An action potential occurs when the membrane potential of a specific Cell (biology), cell rapidly ri ...
or other depolarising event. In neurons, trains of action potentials may be required to induce sAHPs; this is unlike fast AHPs that require no more than a single action potential. A variety of ionic mechanism may contribute to sAHPs, including potassium efflux from calcium- or sodium- activated potassium channels, and/or the electrogenic response of the
sodium-potassium ATPase,
[J.H. Kim, I. Sizov, M. Dobretsov, and H. Von Gersdorff, Presynaptic Ca2+ buffers control the strength of a fast post-tetanic hyperpolarization mediated by the a3 Na+/K+-ATPase, Nature Neuroscience 10:196-205 (2007).][A.T. Gulledge, S. Dasari, K. Onoue, E.K. Stephens, J.M. Hasse, and D. Avesar, A sodium-pump-mediated afterhyperpolarization in pyramidal neurons., Journal of Neuroscience 33:13025-13041 (2013).] and different mechanisms may underlie the sAHP at different temperatures.
Depending on neuron type and stimulus used for induction, slow afterhyperpolarisations can last for one second to several tens of seconds, during which time the sAHP effectively inhibits neural activity. Fast and Medium AHPs have shorter durations and different ionic mechanisms.
See also
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Afterhyperpolarization
Afterhyperpolarization, or AHP, is the hyperpolarizing phase of a neuron's action potential where the cell's membrane potential falls below the normal resting potential. This is also commonly referred to as an action potential's undershoot phas ...
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Calcium-activated potassium channel
Calcium-activated potassium channels are potassium channels gated by calcium, or that are structurally or phylogenetically related to calcium gated channels. They were first discovered in 1958 by Gardos who saw that calcium levels inside of a cell ...
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Sodium-activated potassium channel
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Sodium pump
References
Neurophysiology
Biophysics
Electrophysiology
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