Lexic.us

Definition of Refractory period

1. Noun. (neurology) the time after a neuron fires or a muscle fiber contracts during which a stimulus will not evoke a response.

Definition of Refractory period

1. Noun. (biology) The period, after excitation, during which a membrane recovers it polarization and is not able to respond to a second stimulus ¹

2. Noun. a recovery phase after orgasm during which it is physiologically impossible for an individual to have additional orgasms ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Medical Definition of Refractory period

1. most commonly used in reference to the interval (typically 1ms) after the passage of an action potential during which an axon is incapable of responding to another. This is caused by inactivation of the sodium channels after opening. The maximum frequency at which neurons can fire is thus limited to a few hundred Hertz. An analogous refractory period occurs in individuals of Dictyostelium discoideum, which are insensitive to extracellular cyclic AMP immediately after a pulse of cAMP has been secreted. The term can be applied to any system where a similar insensitive period follows stimulation. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Refractory Period

Literary usage of Refractory period

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Text-book of Physiology for Medical Students and Physicians by William Henry Howell (1911)
"Marey denned this refractory period as falling within the first part of the systole, and stated that its duration varies with the actual strength of the ..."

2. A Text-book of Physiology for Medical Students and Physicians by William Henry Howell (1911)
"Marey defined this refractory period as falling within the first part of the systole, and stated that its duration varies with the actual strength of the ..."

3. A Text-book of physiology: For Medical Students and Physicians by William Henry Howell (1915)
"Marey defined this refractory period as falling within the first part of the .UK! stated that its duration varies with the actual strength [)f the stimulus. ..."

4. Irritability: A Physiological Analysis of the General Effect of Stimuli in by Max Verworn (1913)
"Alteration of specific irritability during and after excitation. refractory period in various forms of living substance. Absolute and relative refractory ..."

5. Principles of General Physiology by William Maddock Bayliss (1920)
"These facts and the relatively short refractory period associated with the phenomenon are shown in Fig. 139 (page 453). The increase of height is, no doubt, ..."

6. Science by American Association for the Advancement of Science (1883)
"However, in these experiments temporal summation could not be studied at CT intervals less than 2.5 msec in duration because of refractory period ..."

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