The term "refractory period" may refer to:
- Refractory period (physiology), the amount of time it takes for an excitable membrane to be ready for a second stimulus once it returns to its resting state following excitation in the areas of biology, physiology, and cardiology.
- Refractory period (sexology), the recovery phase after orgasm during which it is physiologically impossible for an individual to have additional orgasms.
- Psychological refractory period, the delay in response to the second of two closely spaced psychological stimuli.
- The period of weeks or even months following a series of seizures during which seizures cannot be induced when referring to epilepsy, known as the Postictal state.
Famous quotes containing the word period:
“There is always a period when a man with a beard shaves it off. This period does not last. He returns headlong to his beard.”
—Jean Cocteau (18891963)