Take Home Essay 1: Action Potential There is a series of events that lead to the action potential. Neurons can send and receive input from other neurons through a chemical called a neurotransmitter, which is stored in the postsynaptic membrane. If the input is powerful enough, the neuron will send the message to downstream neurons, from the dendrite to the axon terminals, and this process will stimulate other neurons. The action potential is an electrical excitation that travels along the membrane of the neuron reaching the synaptic terminal (Inlow, 2013). Starting at the presynaptic membrane of the axon, the neuron's membrane begins at its resting point potential, which is -70 mV. The resting potential is the difference in charge in a neuron's membrane when the neuron is not active (Inlow, 2013). Because the inside of the membrane is more negative than the outside, the voltage-gated potassium and sodium channels are closed, but the passive potassium channels are open to allow potassium to flow up the concentration gradient out of the cell. the membrane, which causes it t...