8. What Are Ion Channels?

8. What Are Ion Channels?

Aug 24, 2026·
Xander Chu
Xander Chu
· 1 min read
psychology

Key Question

If ions cannot freely cross the cell membrane, how do they move through it?

What You’ll Learn

  • What ion channels are
  • Why cell membranes are selectively permeable
  • How channels can be selective for particular ions
  • The difference between leak and gated channels
  • How voltage-gated and ligand-gated channels work
  • Why ion channels are essential for electrical signalling

Key Takeaway

Ion channels are proteins that provide selective pathways through the membrane.

Opening and closing these pathways changes which ions can move and therefore changes membrane voltage.

Next

Continue to What Are Ion Pumps?

Xander Chu
Authors
Xander Chu (they/them)
Founder, XC Psych
Psychology student at UNSW exploring psychology and neurobiology from first principles, with a background in data science, machine learning, software engineering, and tennis coaching.