Membrane potential function as a battery, providing power to operate a variety of "molecular devices" embedded in the membrane. Second, in electrically excitable cells such as neurons and muscle cells, it is used for transmitting signals between different parts of a cell. Signals are generated by opening or closing of ion channels at one point in the membrane, producing a local change in the membrane potential. This change in the electric field can be quickly affected by either adjacent or more distant ion channels in the membrane. Those ion channels can then open or close as a result of the potential change,
Electrical conduction system of the heart situated within the myocardium. There is a skeleton of fibrous tissue that surrounds the conduction system which can be seen on an ECG. Dysfunction of the conduction system can cause irregular, fast, or slow heart rhythms. Electrical signals arising in the SA node (located in the right atrium) stimulate the atria to contract. Then the signals travel to the atrioventricular node (AV node), which is located in the interatrial septum. After a delay, the electrical signal diverges and is conducted through the left and right bundle of His to the respective Purkinje fibers for each side of the heart, as