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cheffernan's picture

Still a little unsure

Like most of my other classmates, I also sturggled with trying to understand action potentials as a battery and not thinking of them in terms of electricity. Zoe made a good point that batteries provide electricity so it is hard to not associate the two, but my struggle in understanding comes from my inability to forget what I have previously learned in other courses. It makes sense considering how Professor Grobstein asked us to question all truth, to question what we already learned as truth as well.

I understand trying to relate such a complicated system as the nervous system to something with which we are all familiar with, in this case the battery and previously with the Input/Output Box Model. While at the same time, I still find it hard to try to form a model with the same processes. For example the movement of ions, it is hard to replicate the electromagnetic-concentration gradient established along the axon. I am interested to see how the battery self stimulating will be related to the "I function" and look forward to finding this out on Tuesday.

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