cells that conducted electricity

[gib65]

Are neurons the only cells in the body that are capable of transmitting electric signals?

[zerobreaking]

no it can be nerve cells and muscle cells somewhat

[gib65]

And would muscle cells do it the same way as nerve cells? I mean, do they have action potentials that travel down their length (consisting of sodium and potassium ion channels opening to allow an inverse in charge to occur between inside and outside the cell) and neurotransmitters released at their ends that bind to receptors on the adjacent muscle in order to begin the process again?

[Mr Skeptic]

As I understand it, all cells maintain action potentials (as a more fine-tuned energy supply than ATP, I think). Nerve cells are just specialized in building and releasing the action potential, and also using neurotransmitters to transmit across the synapse.

[CharonY]

All cells require potential across the membrane. But not an action potential. Membrane potentials are also involved in energy generation, however this is done across the mitochondrial membrane (or the cell membrane in case of prokaryotes.

[LimbicLoser]

I might also add, along with the above, that it would not be so precise to think of the neurons as transmitting 'electric signals' (since, as far as I know, that only occurs at gap junctions; and maybe with some glia cells), but transmitting nerotransmitters and neuromodulators. 'Electricity' (title) itself is perhaps a bad image, actually--the depolarization events are not due to free moving electrons, per se (as electricity is), but to positive and negative ions.

 

Oh, and only the neurons have axons, muscle cells do not.

[CharonY]

Good points.

[gib65]

All cells require potential across the membrane. But not an action potential. Membrane potentials are also involved in energy generation, however this is done across the mitochondrial membrane (or the cell membrane in case of prokaryotes.

 

So then what is an "action potential" precisely?

[iNow]

So then what is an "action potential" precisely?

 

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/ap.html

http://outreach.mcb.harvard.edu/animations/actionpotential.swf

[Mr Skeptic]

All cells require potential across the membrane. But not an action potential.

 

Says wiki:

Active transport is responsible for the well-established observation that cells contain relatively high concentrations of potassium ions but low concentrations of sodium ions. The mechanism responsible for this is the sodium-potassium pump which moves these two ions in opposite directions across the plasma membrane.

...

...it has a particular significance for excitable cells such as nervous cells, which depend on it for responding to stimuli and transmitting impulses.

 

As I understand it, all cells have the same sort of ion difference as nerve cells, only they don't release it in spikes like nerve cells do. I guess I just got confused since I thought that the action potential was the ion/voltage difference, rather than referring to the spike.

[nec209]

With out nerve cells the body is like a rock and does not work.You need the nerve cells to control the muscle . Your brain sends electric signals down the nerve to tell your muscle to walk or move your hand .

 

To go to the bathroom your brain sends electric signals down the nerve too to open the bladder.

 

There was program on TLC of man got is had cut off the doctors had to hook up his nerves and every thing else but even than it was NOT 100% good.

 

The truble is nerve cells and electric signals in the spin is so different they do not know how to fix this or re-hook it up like a cut off had or foot.