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REPORT

Generation of resting membrane potential

Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85724

Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: S. H. Wright, Dept. of Physiology, College of Medicine, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85724 (E-mail: shwright{at}u.arizona.edu)

Abstract

This brief review is intended to serve as a refresher on the ideas associated with teaching students the physiological basis of the resting membrane potential. The presentation is targeted toward first-year medical students, first-year graduate students, or senior undergraduates. The emphasis is on general concepts associated with generation of the electrical potential difference that exists across the plasma membrane of every animal cell. The intention is to provide students a general view of the quantitative relationship that exists between 1) transmembrane gradients for K⁺ and Na⁺ and 2) the relative channel-mediated permeability of the membrane to these ions.

Key words: Nernst equation; Goldman equation; electrical potential difference

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