Action potential the muscle to contract. Muscle action potentials are provoked by the arrival of a pre-synaptic neuronal action potential at the neuromuscular junction, which is a common target for neurotoxins. Plant and fungal cells are also electrically excitable. The fundamental difference from animal action potentials is that the depolarization in plant cells is not accomplished by an uptake of positive sodium ions, but by release of negative "chloride" ions. Together with the following release of positive potassium ions, which is common to plant and animal action potentials, the action potential in plants infers, therefore, an osmotic loss of salt (KCl), whereas
Action potential potential. Their joint efforts can be thwarted, however, by the counteracting inhibitory postsynaptic potentials. Neurotransmission can also occur through electrical synapses. Due to the direct connection between excitable cells in the form of gap junctions, an action potential can be transmitted directly from one cell to the next in either direction. The free flow of ions between cells enables rapid non-chemical-mediated transmission. Rectifying channels ensure that action potentials move only in one direction through an electrical synapse. Electrical synapses are found in all nervous systems, including the human brain, although they are a distinct minority. The amplitude of an action