Change the Potassium Concentrations

The Potassium ion plays a major role in the repolarization of an action potential. The ionic concentration of Potassium determines how quickly repolarization occurs. Increasing the extracellular concentration of K+ causes the action potential to peak higher and repolarize slower. The higher extracellular concentration leads to a larger concentration gradient between the inside and outside of the cell. This gradient makes it more difficult for Potassium to move out of the cell. Since the efflux of Potassium out of the cell aids repolarization, the cell repolarizes slower. Now run the model with higher or lower K_extracellular concentrations and see what happens!!!!

Ionic Concentrations

Na_extracellular = 117 (mM)

Na_intracellular = 30 (mM)
K_extracellular 50 (mM)80 (mM)
K_intracellular =90 (mM)