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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Receptor potential</span></span>
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<div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><p>A <b>receptor potential</b>, also known as a <b> generator potential</b>,<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> a type of <a href="Graded_potential" title="Graded potential">graded potential</a>, is the <a href="Transmembrane_potential_difference" class="mw-redirect" title="Transmembrane potential difference">transmembrane potential difference</a> produced by activation of a <a href="Sensory_receptor" class="mw-redirect" title="Sensory receptor">sensory receptor</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>A receptor potential is often produced by <a href="Sensory_transduction" class="mw-redirect" title="Sensory transduction">sensory transduction</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It is generally a <a href="Depolarizing" class="mw-redirect" title="Depolarizing">depolarizing</a> event resulting from inward <a href="Current_(electricity)" class="mw-redirect" title="Current (electricity)">current</a> flow. The influx of current will often bring the <a href="Membrane_potential" title="Membrane potential">membrane potential</a> of the sensory receptor towards the threshold for triggering an <a href="Action_potential" title="Action potential">action potential</a>. Receptor potential can work to trigger an action potential either within the same <a href="Neuron" title="Neuron">neuron</a> or on an adjacent cell. Within the same neuron, a receptor potential can cause local current to flow to a region capable of generating an action potential by opening <a href="Voltage-gated_ion_channel" title="Voltage-gated ion channel"> voltage-gated ion channels</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> A receptor potential can also cause the release of <a href="Neurotransmitter" title="Neurotransmitter">neurotransmitters</a> from one cell that will act on another cell, generating an action potential in the second cell.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The magnitude of the receptor potential determines the frequency with which <a href="Action_potential" title="Action potential">action potentials</a> are generated and is controlled by adaptation, stimulus strength, and temporal summation of successive receptor potentials.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Receptor potential relies on receptor sensitivity which can adapt slowly, resulting in a slowly decaying receptor potential or rapidly, resulting in a quickly generated but shorter-lasting receptor potential.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>An example of a receptor potential is in a <a href="Taste_bud" title="Taste bud">taste bud</a>, where taste is converted into an electrical signal sent to the brain. When stimulated, the taste bud triggers the release of neurotransmitters through <a href="Exocytosis" title="Exocytosis">exocytosis</a> of <a href="Synaptic_vesicle" title="Synaptic vesicle">synaptic vesicles</a> from the <a href="Presynaptic" class="mw-redirect" title="Presynaptic">presynaptic</a> membrane. The neurotransmitter molecules diffuse across the <a href="Synaptic_cleft" class="mw-redirect" title="Synaptic cleft">synaptic cleft</a> to the <a href="Postsynaptic" class="mw-redirect" title="Postsynaptic">postsynaptic</a> membrane of the primary sensory neuron, where they elicit an <a href="Action_potential" title="Action potential">action potential</a>.
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div>
<ul><li><a href="Resting_potential" title="Resting potential">Resting potential</a></li>
<li><a href="Action_potential" title="Action potential">Action potential</a></li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
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<li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/generator%20potential">http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/generator%20potential</a></span>
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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
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</style><cite id="CITEREFHille2001" class="citation book cs1"><a href="Bertil_Hille" title="Bertil Hille">Hille, Bertil</a> (2001). "Chapter 8. Sensory transduction and excitable cells.". <i>Ion Channels of Excitable Membranes</i> (3rd ed.). Sunderland, Massachusetts: Sinauer. pp. <span class="nowrap">237–</span>268. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>0-87893-321-2</bdi>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFBiswasManivannanSrinivasan2015" class="citation journal cs1">Biswas, Abhijit; Manivannan, M.; Srinivasan, Mandyam A. (2015). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://zenodo.org/record/894772">"Vibrotactile Sensitivity Threshold: Nonlinear Stochastic Mechanotransduction Model of the Pacinian Corpuscle"</a>. <i>IEEE Transactions on Haptics</i>. <b>8</b> (1): <span class="nowrap">102–</span>113. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1109%2FTOH.2014.2369422">10.1109/TOH.2014.2369422</a>. <a href="PMID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="PMID (identifier)">PMID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25398183">25398183</a>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-:0-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:0_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_4-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_4-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFWidmaierRaffStrang" class="citation book cs1">Widmaier, Eric P.; Raff, Hershel; Strang, Kevin T. <i>Vander's Human Physiology: The Mechanisms of Body Function</i>. New York: McGraw Hill. p. 193.</cite></span>
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