temporal summation

a neural mechanism in which an impulse is propagated by two successive postsynaptic potentials (PSPs), neither of which alone is of sufficient intensity to cause a response. The partial depolarization caused by the first PSP continues for a few milliseconds and is able, with the additive effect of the second PSP, to produce an above-threshold depolarization sufficient to elicit an action potential. Compare spatial summation.

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Psychology term of the day

November 23rd 2024

idealistic monism

the position that all reality consists of a single substance, that substance being mind or spirit. See idealism; monism. Compare natural monism. See also mind–body problem.