Module 1 builds on the foundations from Module 0 and explores how neurons create, transmit, and communicate electrical signals.
Understand what electrical potential means and why voltage describes stored electrical potential energy.
Use simple physical analogies to understand gradients, forces, and why particles move.
Understand what actually propagates during an action potential and why ions themselves do not travel the entire length of the axon.
Learn how refractory periods and voltage-gated sodium channel inactivation make action potentials propagate primarily in one direction.
Explore how myelin insulates axons and allows electrical signals to propagate faster through saltatory conduction.
Understand how an electrical action potential triggers chemical neurotransmitter release at the synapse.
Explore how excitatory and inhibitory inputs are integrated until the neuron either reaches threshold or does not.
Learn how ion channels create selective pathways through cell membranes and control ion movement.
Understand how ion pumps use energy to maintain the concentration gradients that make neuronal signalling possible.