action potential

This term is a technical specification used primarily in neuroscience and physiology. It describes the "all-or-nothing" electrical impulse that travels along an axon. Unlike graded potentials, which vary in size, an action potential occurs fully or not at all once a specific threshold is reached.

In a clinical or academic register, it is often discussed in relation to the sodium-potassium pump and the depolarization phase. It is almost exclusively used in scientific contexts to explain how information is transmitted across the nervous system or how muscles are triggered to contract.