As you saw in the video spatial summation is similar to temporal summation, in that it adds different potentials in order to trigger an action potential. Only in this case the axon is receiving signals from different places instead of receiving signals from a signal neuron separated by time. If I am not mistaken this allows for a wide variety of ways that neurons can send and receive signals, and this in turn means that different signals can be sent by the same neuron.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Temporal and Spatial Summation
One of the things that I find most interesting is temporal and spatial summation. Basically what this is, temporal summation has to do with time, whereas spatial has to do with space. Now summation adds stuff up, in the case of physiology it adds up the action potentials of the neuron(s). Ok so now we take a closer look at how this plays out in relation to the nervous system. Temporal summation takes the action potentials, that are much too light to trigger a response, and adds them up in order to finally trigger the response. For example, one drop of water on your head isn't enough to make you fix the leaky water pipe, but 20 water drops on your head in one minute is enough to make you take action and fix that leaky water pipe.
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I too found spatial & temporal summation to be very fascinating.I love how your blog post explains summations & your video presented the information splendidly. How I understand it temporal summation is several impulses from ONE neuron over a certain time (like your water leaking example) & spatial summation is impulses from SEVERAL neurons at one given time. Its amazing when you actually sit there and think about how these processes work. Its something that seems SOOO simple, but when it comes down to it they are fascinating. Through his work Sherrington was able to find evidence of both these summations through experimentation of pinching repetitively at one point (Temporal) & different areas at the same point (Spatial). These processes are critical for our live. For instance Spatial summation is important to the functioning of the brain.
ReplyDeleteThis is the part of the subject of physiological psychology that confuses me the most. However, your blog explains temporal summation very well and it made me understand it way better. It's crazy how people never think about this kind of stuff but this is truly what makes us tick. This is what makes us be the way we are. These processes are very critical for us but we hardly even notice them.
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