In physiology, a slow-wave potential is a membrane potential that cycles between depolarizations and repolarizations. Slow wave potentials are generated by myocytes. Due to temporal summation, a slow-wave potential will periodically reach threshold and generate an action potential. This in turn triggers contraction of a myocyte. Since each cycle of a slow-wave potential does not always reach threshold, an action potential (AP) does not always fire as a result. Slow waves are intrinsic: they do not rely on exogenous stimulus, but they can be altered by an exogenous stimulus.
Read more about Slow-wave Potential: In Gastrointestinal Smooth Muscle, In Uterine Smooth Muscle, Causes
Famous quotes containing the word potential:
“Most days I feel like an acrobat high above a crowd out of which my own parents, my in-laws, potential employers, phantoms of “other women who do it” and a thousand faceless eyes stare up.”
—Anonymous Mother. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 2 (1978)