Describe how an action potential propagates along a myelinated and an unmyelinated axon, including how the...

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Medical Sciences

Describe how an action potential propagates along a myelinatedand an unmyelinated axon, including how the potential is spreadalong the membrane. How are these two processes similar and how arethey different? What two benefits do myelinated axons have overunmyelinated ones? Provide one way in which a myelinated axon issimilar to an electrical wire and one way in which an axon isdifferent than a wire. Why does multiple sclerosis (MS) preventtransmission in myelinated axons (that is, why canâ€™t these axonsjust propagate the action potential in the same way that anunmyelinated axon does)? Finally, what if a drug 3 was developedthat allowed M.S. patients to use continuous propagation for all oftheir neurons all the time; what would be the impact of such adrug?

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First part The propagation of action potential along both the unmyelinated axon and myelinated axons require the activation of voltage gated sodium channel This is the similarity Dissimilarity is that In myelinated axonsthe voltage gated sodium channel is present only in the nodal spaces called nodes of ranvir where as in unmyelinated axon the voltage gated sodium channel is present along the entire axon Thus the action potential propagation in unmyelinated axon require the activation of sodium channel present throughout the See Answer

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