Frequency
The number of action potentials during the plateau of a particular BER slow wave can vary. Multiple action potentials during the same slow wave peak create a stronger muscle contraction.
The frequency of the BER, and thus the contractions, changes throughout the GI tract. The frequency in the stomach is 3 per minute, while the duodenum is 11 to 12 per minute and the ileum is 9 per minute. The colon can have a BER frequency between 2 and 13 per minute. The electrical activity is oscillatory, so that the BER has peaks and valleys when graphed over time.
Read more about this topic: Basal Electrical Rhythm
Famous quotes containing the word frequency:
“One is apt to be discouraged by the frequency with which Mr. Hardy has persuaded himself that a macabre subject is a poem in itself; that, if there be enough of death and the tomb in one’s theme, it needs no translation into art, the bold statement of it being sufficient.”
—Rebecca West (1892–1983)
“The frequency of personal questions grows in direct proportion to your increasing girth. . . . No one would ask a man such a personally invasive question as “Is your wife having natural childbirth or is she planning to be knocked out?” But someone might ask that of you. No matter how much you wish for privacy, your pregnancy is a public event to which everyone feels invited.”
—Jean Marzollo (20th century)