Question

When two excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) occur at a single synapse so rapidly in succession that the postsynaptic neuron's membrane potential has not returned to the resting potential before the second EPSP arrives, the EPSPs add together producing _____.

A)an action potential with an abnormally high peak of depolarization
B)temporal summation
C)the refractory state
D)spatial summation
E)tetanus

Answer 1

B) temporal summation

Step-by-step explanation:

When two EPSPs occur at the same synapse, the process called temporal summation occurs.

Temporal summation is the process of combining the postsynaptic potentials of different neurons as they are added in sequence.

When occurring in rapid succession, the final potential becomes a cohesive sum of the postsynaptic potentials. Therefore, temporal summation can be defined as the sum that creates postsynaptic potentials at different times.