Question

Why can nerve impulses travel only in one direction?

Answer 1

Nerve impulse:

1. Neurons communicate with one another through nerve impulses.
2. Nerve impulses are electrical signals that travel along dendrites onward the segment of an axon filament.
3. The movement of ions into and out of the cell produces the action potential.

Cause of impulse transmission in one direction:

1. Nerve impulses only travel in one direction in neurons.
2. This impulse transmission is dependent on synaptic transmission.
3. This happens because nerve cells only have one transmission site.
4. The receptors also work in one direction.
5. The nerve impulse works on the principle of depolarization and repolarization.
6. The nerve cells only have neurotransmitter storage vesicles in one way.
7. Nerve impulses must cross synaptic junctions to travel from one cell to another.
8. The nerve cells are lined up in a long track, with the head of one cell connecting to the tail of another.
9. There are tiny gaps between these cells.
10. These tiny gaps are referred to as nerve synapses.
11. When a nerve fires, an action potential is generated along the nerve track.
12. The sodium-potassium pump ejects three sodium ions for every two potassium ions pumped into the cell; energy is needed for this process.
13. It results in an action potential.
14. Because neurotransmitter storage vesicles and receptors are present in one location, impulse transmission occurs only in one direction.